All About Worship Digital Magazine Issue 3 - October 2012

INTERVIEWS:

KARI JOBE BRENTON BROWN

Reviews: Will Retherford Remedy Drive Bethel Live Brenton Brown The Myth of Finding Balance

by Rob Rash

Creating Home Demos that Work

by Sean Hill

ISSUE 03

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OCT 2012

Listen (Can You Hear the Music?)

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OCTOBER CONTENTS DEVOTIONAL: ONE VOICE, ONE PURPOSE, ONE RESPONSE.....5 LEADERSHIP ROUNDTABLE.....7 CREATING HOME DEMOS THAT WORK.....8 INTERVIEW WITH KARI JOBE.....12 THE SONGWRITER’S CAFE: INTERVIEW WITH BRENTON BROWN.....18 THE MYTH OF FINDING BALANCE.....22 REVIEWS: WILL RETHERFORD, REMEDY DRIVE, BETHEL LIVE, BRENTON BROWN.....24

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Credits Editor-in-Chief Wisdom Moon Creative Director Wendy Lane Editorial Team Barry Westman Brie Moon Joe Brookhouse

Contributing Writers Barry Westman Chris Olson Dan Thomas Dustin Smith Ed Rotheram Julie Terwilliger Matt Neff Rob Rash Sean Hill

Contact mag@allaboutworship.com Facebook.com/allaboutworship Twitter.com/allaboutworship Email questions for The Leadership Roundtable to lead@allaboutworship.com Address All About Worship PO Box 3082 Olathe, KS 66063

Letter from the Editor When the music fades...

Remember that song? I was worshipping with this song the other day during my private time with the Lord, just me and the guitar. I had not sung this song for probably over two years.

“The Heart of Worship” was in my setlists in the year 1999 and several years following, more often than not. God used this song to change my life and the lives of my church family.

Revisiting the song this week brought back the freshness of singing it for the first time. What a powerful, raw song. It is a great reminder that worship is ALL about JESUS! So often we get caught up in the music or the production of our weekend services that we need a reminder from time to time that it simply is all about Him. If we lose that focus, we are in danger of just gathering together and singing songs to each other.

We are working hard to build something that has no eternal significance. As we head into the busy holiday season, let us always remember that it’s ALL about HIM. “When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come...”

For His Kingdom, Wisdom Moon Editor-in-Chief wisdom@allaboutworship.com 4

DEVOTIONAL

ONE VOICE, ONE PURPOSE, ONE RESPONSE

By Dustin Smith

T

his has to be one of my favorite “church services” in the Bible!

“By the time the seventh month arrived, the People of Israel were settled in their towns. Then all the people gathered as one person in the town square in front of the Water Gate and asked the scholar Ezra to bring the Book of The Revelation of Moses that God had commanded for Israel.

So Ezra the priest brought The Revelation to the congregation, which was made up of both men and women – everyone capable of understanding. It was the first day of the seventh month. He read it facing the town square at the Water Gate from early dawn until noon in the hearing of the men and women, all who could understand it.

And all the people listened; they were all-ears to the Book of The Revelation. Ezra opened the book.

Every eye was on him (he was standing on the raised platform) and as he opened the book everyone stood.

Then Ezra praised God, the great God, and all the people responded, “Oh Yes! Yes!” with hands raised high.

Then they fell to their knees in worship of God, their faces to the ground. Nehemiah the governor, along with Ezra the priest and scholar and the Levites who were teaching the people, said to all the people, “This day is holy to God, your God. Don’t weep and carry on.” They said this because all the people were weeping as they heard the words of The Revelation.“ (Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5, 6, 9 MSG) It is hard to read this passage of scripture and not long for this to happen in churches around the world every week. I mean look at what is going on: 1. The people come together with one voice and ask for the word of God to be read.

2. The reading goes from dawn until noon.

3. The people listen attentively.

4. Ezra stands up and all the people follow with a response of standing with their hands raised in the air worshipping.

5. All the people got on their knees with their faces to the ground in worship (ok, so some churches would hate this part of the service, but it is in the Bible).

6. All the people were weeping as the word of God

was read aloud.

Amazing! There is no one fast song, one medium song and two slow songs. No letting people worship however they feel led. No begging people to stay at a church service for at least an hour and a half.

No arguing over worship styles. ONE VOICE, ONE PURPOSE, ONE RESPONSE! I believe that we can have this same type of response in our churches, but it will not just happen by chance. To get the type of response that happens in Chapter 8 of Nehemiah, we have to take a look at how this story begins and not just how it ends.

Here is a quick summary of how this type of response was birthed and some things we should consider: Chapter 1 “I asked them about the conditions among the Jews there who had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem. They told me, ‘The exile survivors who are left there in the province are in bad shape. Conditions are appalling. The wall of Jerusalem is still rubble; the city gates are still cinders.’” (Nehemiah 1:2, 3 MSG) Nehemiah receives word that Jerusalem’s walls were in ruins and the people’s lives were a mess.

He felt the burden of the city and its people, and he was so overwhelmed by it that he mourned, prayed, fasted and wept before the Lord.

When is the last time you took an honest assessment of the condition of the people around you and you were physically moved by their situations? Has it caused you to mourn, fast or weep before the Lord?

We need leaders whose hearts break over injustice.

Chapter 2 “I said, ‘If it pleases the king, and if the king thinks well of me, send me to Judah, to the city where my family is buried, so that I can rebuild it.’” (Nehemiah 2:5 MSG) Nehemiah goes before the King and asks for permission to go and help rebuild the walls.

Nehemiah was not content to just pray about it, but he took it upon himself to go and be a part of the solution.

Are we content to sit in our comfortable positions

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when everything around us says that our walls are torn down and the people’s lives are in ruin? Love always has concern for others, and it always leads to a response.

majority of these are birthed out of a selfish mindset, not a servant mindset. The only way a leader can help overcome this is if he is not driven by self but by a concern for others.

Chapter 3 “The men of Jericho worked alongside them; and next to them, Zaccur son of Imri.” (Nehemiah 3:2 MSG) Nehemiah takes an assessment of the walls, and he begins to organize the workers side by side all the way around the wall.

A good leader will pull a group together with a common goal and have them work side by side to accomplish it. Everyone is depending on the person next to them to accomplish the task or we will have a hole in our wall that the enemy can get through.

We have to lose the “every man for themselves” mentality.

Chapter 6 “Sanballat and Geshem sent this message: ‘Come and meet with us at Kephirim in the valley of Ono.’ so I sent messengers back with this: ‘I’m doing a great work; I can’t come down. Why should the work come to a standstill just so I can come down to see you?’” (Nehemiah 6:2, 3 MSG) As he gets close to the completion of the wall, the enemy tries one last ditch effort to get Nehemiah to stop rebuilding it by asking him to meet with them. Nehemiah does not fall for it and sees the wall rebuilding to completion.

The only thing the enemy knows to do if he can’t stop you is to try to distract you. If he can get your eyes off the goal then he has done his job. He is not just trying to get you to fail, but he is doing everything he can to impede your progress. Distraction buys the enemy time.

This is an amazing story! The problem is, I feel like it reflects us more than we know. The biggest difference between this story and us is that it is hard to find very many Nehemiahs. We get up every weekend hoping our people will worship, but their walls are torn down and the enemy is at their doorstep. We cannot expect a celebration when the enemy is inside the camp!

Instead of taking the same steps Nehemiah did to rebuild walls, we get frustrated with people for not worshipping. It is time we weep, take action, have concern for others and get to work. The walls that we rebuild will be walls of protection and safety, so we can see lives restored. Once we find the Nehemiahs who will step up and lead, I believe we will find people with ONE VOICE, ONE PURPOSE and ONE RESPONSE!!!

Chapter 4 “When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he exploded in anger, vilifying the Jews.”

(Nehemiah 4:1 MSG) Nehemiah does not let the taunt of the enemy keep the wall from being built, but he does not ignore it either. He first tells everyone that they need to fight for each other, and then he has them ready to work with a hammer in one hand and to fight with a sword in the other.

The enemy would love nothing more than to keep us in disunity and prevent us from building walls that will shut him out. The leaders voice always needs to be louder than the enemy’s taunts! We are not just building a wall together, but we are at the same time fighting an enemy that wants to keep the walls torn down.

Chapter 5 “A great protest was mounted by the people, including the wives, against their fellow Jews. Some said, ‘We have big families, and we need food just to survive.’” (Nehemiah 5:1, 2 MSG) At this point in the story, Nehemiah is not dealing with the enemy outside the walls. He now has to deal with the enemy inside the walls...his own people.

The people begin to complain and quarrel because of how they are being treated by their leadership.

Because of Nehemiah’s position and unselfishness, he is able to squash the problem and make sure that everyone is treated fairly.

It has become commonplace in our churches to have wars happening among our own people. The

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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Dustin is a worship leader and songwriter in Kansas City. His new live album, You Are The Fire, can be found at dustinsmith.com

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The Leadership Roundtable

Each month in this section we answer questions from our readers related to leadership and worship ministry.

Q: A:

“

The church needs a standard of excellence to draw in the unsaved

”

I have an older lady that really wants to be a part of the worship team. She asks me about it every time she sees me at church. From what other people have told me, she cannot hold a pitch. We don’t currently do worship team auditions. It’s all been through personal invites and recommendations. What’s the best way to handle this?

First off, I would absolutely implement auditions for anyone who may want to join the team, even if you approach them. It creates an atmosphere for consistency and raises the bar of excellence. Some churches decide that no matter who is auditioned they will make the team, but that doesn’t mean they will be seen on weekend. They could attend practices and you could feel them out for quite some time before utilizing them in any way. Then maybe they could be used in a small group setting, etc. Or, if your church doesn’t offer small settings of worship, then put them on stage every now and then. If anything, they may be a smiling face that brings energy to the stage and the sound person doesn’t turn them loud in the house.

On the other hand you could implement the auditions and then tell the person honestly what needs to be worked on before they would be able to join the team, and that when you hold auditions again they should tryout again. Make sure to tell them the things they did good as well. Build them up before breaking them down. If you are going to do this you should probably have honest evaluations and auditions for the current team as well.

The church needs a standard of excellence to draw in the unsaved. People who have never experienced “worship” don’t know that the pitch-deaf singer loves God with all her heart and has been a member for eternity. They are used to hearing excellent music from the secular industry. Why should the Kingdom of God be subpar?

Erin Cameneti @erincameneti Erin is a wife, mother, and worship leader at Believers Church in Warren, OH. (believers.cc)

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SOUND & LIGHTING

CREATING HOME DEMOS THAT WORK ( PART 1 )

by Sean Hill

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ou can read through a plethora of literature on the web about creating home demos. Some of those articles have great tips and tricks; some seem misguided at best. Some are very general, and some are super technical beyond understanding.

This article will take you on a practical fly-by of 5 elements that can greatly improve the quality of your home demos right now.

THE GENERAL APPROACH Recording engineering is sonically capturing a great performance with clarity. Producing is creating a great performance to be captured.

You are now simultaneously wearing both hats as producer and engineer on this demo. You are not only responsible for creating inspired performances as the producer, but also capturing them as the studio engineer. To capture performances with clarity requires decent microphones, some technical know-how, and a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) (ProTools, Logic, GargeBand, CakeWalk, etc.) to work and edit in. Microphones, DAWs, and actual instruments, however, come at a price.

FINANACES Creating a solid home demo is not free. If you don’t have a drum set, you need to hire a drummer to play on your track. If you are not a solid vocalist or you don’t have immediate access to a solid vocalist, you need to hire one.

If you don’t have decent microphones, it’s time to invest. At this point you’ve written a song or many songs, that you believe in. It is your duty to the song to make it sound the best it can and that will likely cost you something. Songwriters must either create high quality demos themselves, or pay demo studios to create high quality demos for them to pitch. If a song is not professionally demoed, in all likelihood, it will not grab the “ear” of the industry.

5 ELEMENTS TO SUCCESS

1. The Click Track This is a home demo’s best friend. Learn to love it! Yes, the constant clicking all the time will

annoy you. Yes, it will make tracking instruments more difficult and tedious. You will quickly see, however, how much “tighter” the end result becomes. A click track will keep the timing near perfect, and give the song a solid consistent feel.

A click track also allows a band to play together easily without having to actually play together simultaneously. Each instrument can be tracked individually and independently of each other with no timing issues.

2. Arrangement Arrangement is so crucial to a song’s success.

How long is the song in total? I have a saying, “songs over five don’t survive.” Yes, Jesus Culture is breaking that mold in many ways, but we are not Jesus Culture. They have established notoriety that allows them to bend the rules. I like my own personal demos to be less than four minutes.

How long is it before the chorus hits? For a song to be widely accepted and embraced the chorus needs to hit within the first minute. Although we think our song is EPIC, a thirty-second intro is too long. Ten seconds for an intro is a good goal.

Do you need a turn-a-round every time after the chorus? Where can you save crucial seconds? A concise arrangement will carry a great song much further than that same exact song with a poor arrangement.

3. Drums Always use real drums over programmed drums. Programmed drums, no matter how great the samples are, will never match the expression and feel of a live human drummer playing a live drum set. And no, V-Drums are not a real live drum set. A live drummer on a live kit will dynamically set your song off! One of my mentors taught me that if the drums aren’t well played and don’t sound good no one will care about the rest of the recording. The drums are the backbone of the whole production.

Here are a couple tips to keep in mind when tracking drums:

-A well tuned drum set will go a long

way (get new drum heads).

-Cheap cymbals ruin a mix.

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-A dynamic performance from a good drummer is crucial (not just a so-so performance from someone who can play a beat).

-You must have the capability to at least mic the kick drum, snare drum, and the toms individually.

-As the producer of your demo you must control the drummer…it’s not a drum solo.

4. Vocals Vocals are tricky. More often than not the problem I hear in most demos is the vocals are drowned in way too many effects and compression is not used or overused. Reverb and delay are both very effective when used correctly, but when it sounds like you are in a cave, you have missed the beauty in subtlety.

Compression is also a must…no singer can sing at a perfectly constant volume level. Grab a preset compression in your DAW and that will get you close. As far as the performance goes, make sure the lyrics can be understood and the notes are on pitch. Invest in something like “Auto-Tune” or “Melodyne” to help make sure everything is on pitch. Sharp and flat notes are a distraction from the song itself.

5. The Mix If you have done your job in capturing the great performances with clarity, this job can be pretty straightforward to get a decent mix.

Don’t be afraid of presets for compression and EQ. I have found that the presets on DAWs are generally not too far off. I could probably write ten or more articles about mixing, but I will give a few general pointers to get you going:

-Buy some decent studio quality

headphones, or some decent reference

monitors to hear what’s actually

happening in your mix.

-Use panning to your advantage. The

only thing that should be panned in the

middle of your mix should be kick drum,

snare drum, bass, and lead vocal.

Everything else should be pushed to one

side or the other.

-Fewer effects please! Again, the

problem I hear in most demos is the

overuse and misuse of effects. Don’t

reach for effects to cover up bad

production…it actually amplifies mistakes.

-Listen very attentively to your favorite

songs. What’s going on in the mix? Match

it the best you can.

WRAP UP As a songwriter and subsequent producer of home demos, you have a duty to your song to make it sound incredible. If your song is not well represented, it will never catch the “ear” of the industry. Any pieces of the production puzzle that you simply cannot handle yourself, hire out. If you don’t have a good drummer who can play to the click or you don’t have the mics available, hire a studio to track the drums for you. Studios will generally do quick turn-around drum tracks, bass tracks, guitar tracks, or key tracks for fairly cheap. Again, creating good home demos is not free. Creating good music is a costly process.

Good luck! And I hope you can take away a couple pieces of advice that will start improving your demo quality. Stay tuned because next month we will look at creating home demos that work with a more technical lens! We will look at microphones placement, microphone choices, EQs, compressions, and more!

Sean is a full-time producer and songwriter in Lawrenceville, GA. www.uphillstudiosonline.com 10

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Interview with Kari Jobe Kari Jobe. Some know her as a worship leader at Gateway Church in Dallas, TX. Some know her as the voice behind the phenomenal corporate worship song, “Revelation Song”. Some know her as a young lady with a great fashion.

We were able to catch up with Kari recently and talk to her about music, ministry, songwriting, and yes...even fashion.

Interview conducted by Wisdom Moon, Julie Terwilliger, and Chris Olson.

AAW: Kari, first of all, thank you so much for taking the time to share with us today! I (Wisdom) remember when we first connected several years ago and I had a chance to interview you on the All About Worship Podcast. That was a lot of fun! We’ve since interviewed you on our website a couple of times, and now in our brand new magazine! This is exciting!

Obviously, God has opened up many amazing doors since the podcast interview. That was before you got signed to a label or won any awards. I (Wisdom) remember asking you how far one should go in promoting their music. You stated that you’re not big on self-promotion and sending your demo out to record labels. How would you advise worship leaders and songwriters who are trying to reach people through their music?

Kari: Be in Love. Stay in Love. Worship out of Love. Praise out of Love. A love for the presence of God, the anointing, that people would be drawn into the presence of God. One of the worst things a worship leader can do is to promote themselves or get ahead of God’s timing. Let the Lord extend your platform and ministry influence.

AAW: I know that you are a big social media person and you have a lot of followers on social media. Why do you use it?

Kari: I think it’s a great tool for people to stay connected and to keep everyone updated on what God is doing all over the world.

AAW: You are on tour a lot, but you also have a close connection to your home church in Texas. How do you balance being involved at the local church vs. touring and all that goes with being a “worship artist”?

Kari: I love what I do! It definitely never gets boring. I think it’s super important for worship leaders to stay connected to their local church. It gives such a 13

covering and such a sense of reality. Going home and just serving your church and seeing people that you’ve known and worshipped with for years and years…it’s so good for your soul. I also have such an incredible church that helped me find the right balance of being home and being gone. Each scenario for an artist or worship leader is different, but you have to remember to serve your Pastor and really try to serve him as much as you can. He will usually give a good bit of wisdom to how much he’d like you to be home vs. being gone. It takes a lot of prayer though!

God knows everything and it served to be such a precious time of me crying out to God for my own life…and it turned out you can really hear it in the lyrics and vocals on the CD

AAW: I’m sure you sing “Revelation Song” more often than not in your travels. It’s a song written by our mutual friend Jennie Lee Riddle and made popular by you. How do you sing the same song hundreds of times, like I’m sure you’ve done with “Revelation Song”, and still sing it like it’s fresh?

Kari: Well, I have sung that song a lot the last few years. That song is so anointed and such a great way to focus people’s hearts and minds on Him. I am still drawn into the presence of God every time I sing it. I am so thankful for that song.

AAW: Earlier this year you released Where I Find You, which is a wonderful album. What is your favorite song to lead live from that album?

Kari: Probably “What Love Is This”. I loved writing it. I had the beginning of this song for about 6 months before I was able to finish it. I took it to Mia Fieldes and Lincoln Brewster in a co-write and asked if they wanted to help me finish it. Best idea ever! It is a love song to Him. It comes from a place of gratitude for His love and sacrifice.

AAW: How has writing & recording this album changed you? Musically? Spiritually?

Kari: The season I was going through as I wrote this album was one of the hardest seasons of my life. One of those kinds of seasons where you find yourself saying to God, “Really? Now? You know 14

this isn’t the best timing for me to find out this information or to be in this hard place.”

But as always, God knows everything and it served to be such a precious time of me crying out to God for my own life…and it turned out you can really hear it in the lyrics and vocals on the CD. I’m thankful that God uses our pain to help others…that makes hard things that we walk through in life worth it if it means other people’s lives will be impacted and helped along the way too.

of each song with “the story behind the songs” too.

AAW: When you write a song, do you intentionally write it as a congregational song, or do you write simply as an outpouring from yourself to God and see what comes out?

Kari: I think it’s a mixture of both. I have it in the back of my mind that I want people to be able to sing along so I’ll be mindful of that, but I don’t let it hold me back from pouring out what I really feel or sense.

Sometimes it turns into a ministry type song that I can sing over people…and other times the songs are more congregational.

Musically, I really feel like I have grown vocally since my last album…probably because I sing almost every day now, which is so fun. It’s made my voice stronger. But I The most important believe that you can hear thing to me is the AAW: In a lot of ways in the “cry” in my voice in a Lord using my lot of my new songs where our culture, we have made worship and me I was really crying out to “worship celebrities” out to lead people to God for my own heart and of people, like yourself.

His throne. I love life too. It makes me think Some may even argue that it when others of intercession as I was this interview feeds that experience him singing these songs over mindset. However, there is through worship! people…praying that they a reason God puts certain would help people. I was people, like yourself, in a needing that for myself as position of influence and well. leadership. Do you see any dangers in the current “worship movement” in regards to AAW: More recently in July, you released this? an EP called The Acoustic Sessions (Live).

How did this album come about? Did you Kari: Lots of prayer and accountability! plan on it before Where I Find You even came The most important thing to me is the Lord out? using my worship and me to lead people to His throne. I love it when others experience Kari: We had talked about the possibility him through worship! early on and then after we finished recording, decided it would be fun to record different versions of some of the songs.

AAW: We are a society saturated with sex Then, from there we decided to film videos on TV, movies, magazines, novels, and the

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Internet. We know that what we allow in our hearts eventually comes out. As a songwriter and worship leader, practically, how do you guard against all the filth that we are bombarded with?

Kari: James 1:13-15 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted

by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” I believe that we have to take personal responsibility in our own life for what we watch, where we go, and what we do.

AAW: Okay, this last one is for the ladies...your style is so eclectic & fun, where do you get all your cute stuff?

Kari: Ha! Love this question! I really get a lot of my ideas from my sister! She is amazing! But also from People Style Magazine, Free People, Anthropologie! You can get ideas and then always find stuff that looks the same at Target, Urban Outfitters and Forever 21! Just be creative!

Huge thanks to Kari for taking the time to visit with us.

Be sure to check out her website karijobe.com for tour dates, music, and more!

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THE SONGWRITER’S CAFE

INTERVIEW WITH BRENTON BROWN

I am convinced that one of the most brilliant corporate worship songwriters today is Brenton Brown. I’ve been influenced by his music and ministry from the late 1990’s when I first started leading worship. He has an incredible way of writing songs for The Church that is both cross-cultural and cross-denominational.

I recently got a chance to talk to Brenton about his new live album, songwriting, and even surfing! I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!

Wisdom: Brenton, thanks for taking some time to share with our readers. You’ve been writing worship songs since the early years of what is now known as the “modern worship movement”. How did you first discover that you had a gift for writing songs?

Brenton: Well. To be honest, I’ve never really looked at it as a ‘gift’, although certainly almost all the elements of a good song I can take no real credit for. But I’ve always looked at songwriting as a task or a project that needs doing. And then I’ve asked myself ‘what kind of work do I need to do to complete the task well?’.

Make sense? I started writing almost as soon as I started listening to music - around aged 9 or 10. But then really kicked into high gear after I started learning the guitar.

What followed were hundreds and hundreds of bad songs!!!

Once I started serving as a worship leader in my small group I had the privilege of testing new worship songs during our worship times. Which songs worked and which songs didn’t soon became easy to identify. And this, more than anything, has helped me as a writer. In fact I continue to follow this simple approach more than 20 years later.

Wisdom: Who are some of the songwriters you’ve been influenced or inspired by?

Brenton: I’ve been influenced a lot by some of my ‘older brothers’ in the faith - Paul Baloche, Brian Doerksen, Tommy Walker as well as Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Tim Hughes.

Wisdom: Knowing what you know now, what’s something you would do differently if you had a chance to go back and start over as a songwriter?

Brenton: The number one most important element in writing songs for the church is seeking God. Not just through the sermons, lessons, songs and testimonies of others. But for myself. Really seeking Him for myself. There is no short cut.

Wisdom: You’ve written a few songs with Paul Baloche. How does that typically work since you guys live in two different parts of the country and both travel a lot?

Brenton: We met nearly 20 years ago. And hit it off immediately. It seems like whenever we get together no time has passed at all. That kind of friendship is a real

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gift. And it goes a long way to help the process. Although we finish most of our songs in different cities, we almost always start the song in the same room.

Wisdom: Your first live solo album just released on October 2nd. I really love the album and the fact that it’s live! But, I’m curious...why a live album?

Brenton: I remember a conversation I had with Matt Redman a long time ago. He said something like hearing the congregation singing congregational songs just makes sense of this whole endeavor. A live worship record to me is a bit like the difference between a recipe book and an actual meal. A studio album shows you what might be possible. But a live record is an actual document of the event! I’m so grateful we got to do this. I’m especially grateful for the people who’ve been following our band and coming to events with us. It feels good to have a record people can take home with them that is a good representation of what happens when we play and worship ‘live’.

Also, there have been songs we’ve been playing live in a certain way for a while that can’t be found anywhere else: “Like The Angels”, “I Saw the Light”, and “Everlasting God”. But I’m most excited about the new songs on the record, especially “Jesus, Take All of Me”, “God My Rock” and “Send Us Out”. So grateful we get to lead these songs.

Wisdom: Tell us about the title track “God My Rock”.

Brenton: I’m a simple man, and more than occasionally I need to hear a point made more than once for it to penetrate my mind and heart.

The phrase ‘God my rock, God my rock, God my rock’ was like that for me. God.. a refuge, a shelter, a hiding place. God.. strong, reliable, dependable. God... the ground beneath my feet, the foundation of my life, solid and unwavering.

These thoughts were in my head when I sang that phrase to Paul in our living room. The song went through a lot of changes in melody and form and lyric. But in the end this is what we were trying to say. Some of the lines Paul brought to the song just blew me away. Especially ‘when I’ve struggled to believe You have not let go of me’. It felt so raw and honest and scriptural. Even when we are faithless, He remains faithful. This is our God. The joy of our life. Our song in the night. The One we were made to build our lives upon.

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Wisdom: Lastly, we asked our friends on social media to submit questions for this interview. Here’s one from Mick Murray via Twitter: How do you sabbath?

Brenton: Rest feels like a dirty word in our culture. Irresponsible, immature the activity of children. But rest has been hardwired into us by our Maker, who Himself chose to rest of His work in Creation. Rest is sacramental, and I have to work hard to remember not to apologize for doing it.

I rest most fully, immersed in the open sea searching for pulses of energy that have travelled thousands of miles towards me. I turn and paddle as hard as I can to keep up with them and when I reach the right speed, these pulses called waves carry me fast enough to allow me to stand up and ride the final 100 yards or so of their epic journey with them. I surf and carve turns on these waves for as far as they’ll let me. Then I turn around, paddle back out into the ocean and do it all again...

Wisdom: Thanks so much for sharing with us!

Special thanks to Brenton for sharing his thoughts and insights with us. Visit brentonbrown.com for more information about Brenton’s music and ministry.

You can also follow him on Twitter @BrentonBrown.

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WORSHIP LEADING

The Myth of Finding Balance

by Rob Rash ave you ever been to the circus?

One of the main attractions is the tight rope walker. You know this guy, he’s the one a couple hundred feet up in the air walking from one end to the other on a wire no bigger than an inch in diameter. Many times he walks across the rope with others either on his shoulders or while carrying some type of object.

It’s dangerous. It’s somewhat crazy.

And it takes a tremendous amount of balance and intestinal fortitude.

The key for these performers lies in one accessory... a balance pole. This weighted pole helps spread out their weight making it easier to stay centered on the tight rope. Without this pole, finding and keeping their balance would be even more difficult.

H

Don’t you wish in life and ministry we had a tool like this pole to help us keep our balance?

The reality is that balance, at least in ministry, is a myth. It’s the elusive Sasquatch of time management that we all attempt to capture yet never fully do.

I used to believe in balance. I thought if I worked hard enough, scheduled every detail of my life to every second of my day, then I could balance out my life.

And it just never really worked.

Why? Because life and ministry simply does not work that way. Ministry is really unbalanced. Ministry requires long hours, odd meeting times and it devours huge amounts of time. The key in leading any strong ministry and

family life is really in finding a rhythm.

I know, fitting right? But it’s true.

Let’s consider what rhythm is and what it might look like. Webster’s Dictionary defines rhythm as, “a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.” At first glance, this sounds really similar to balance doesn’t it? But let’s take it a bit further. Rhythm is just as much about the flow and dynamics of a song as it is about a regular pattern of movement.

What makes some of our favorite songs so good? Is it just lyrical content? Or is it the overall flow and vibe of a dynamic build and drop? Or perhaps we should consider a roller coaster. Don’t you just love a classic monster roller coaster? I do, but it’s mainly because most of the other rides get me sick!

O

ne of my favorites to ride is called the ‘Screaming Eagle.’ It’s old and rickety and tall and fast. Once you get in your seat, the coaster starts to kick in.

You slowly make your way up the giant, steep portion of track the whole time the anticipation is building. Upon reaching the top, the coaster starts to slowly release until finally you are heading down a massive drop going over 60 mph. What a rush.

So what’s the point? Reliving childhood memories? No, the point is that life is made up of highs and lows. There are extremely busy times and there are slower times. The key is finding those rhythms and thriving in those times.

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Wednesdays are my long days. I work in the office from 8-4:30, head home to spend a couple of hours with my family and grab dinner and then back up to church for a two hour rehearsal. That’s my big build. That’s my steep climb and long drop. But then there are my slower times like Thursdays.

It’s a day to finish things up, prepare for the weekend, and plan out the coming weeks.

I

’m simply trying to find and maintain a good, solid, healthy rhythm. And I believe this is biblical. Just take a quick survey of some of our favorite bible characters. Their lives were anything but balanced. Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses all had unbalanced busy lives.

David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Nehemiah all had unbalanced lives. John the Baptist, the disciples, and Jesus all had unbalanced, busy lives.

But the one thing that they all had in common, was being able to find a reasonable rhythm to their lives. We, if we want to lead healthy and successful ministries, must follow their examples.

If you struggle with finding balance or rhythm to your life, I’d like to suggest a few options to help you get on your way.

1. Set Priorities Everything in our lives has priority whether we know it or not. Whatever is most important to us is usually at the top of our list. Take some time to write out all of your responsibilities in both your ministry and in family life and list them from highest priority to lowest. Do this with your spouse

if you are married to help get you both on the same page.

2. Schedule Everything Get out your calendar, both digital and analog, and write down every appointment, meeting, and obligation you have. Don’t just write down ministry items but also write down family events and priorities as well.

This will help you from double booking and it will show others how important your family is.

3. Be Flexible As you work on finding your life rhythm, you’ll need to be somewhat flexible because things will change. As the weeks go on, you will eventually get a nice working rhythm.

4. Over Communicate I have to be honest here, this is one I struggle with. But you can never under estimate how important communication is between you and those you lead.

Communicate with your spouse, ministry staff, and your team. Use calls, texts, email, etc. and keep everyone on the same page.

Life will always be out of balance, the key is in finding your rhythm!

Bonus: I would encourage you to listen to this podcast from an Acts 29 Bootcamp on ‘Finding Rhythm in Your Work as a Church Leader.’ I found it very encouraging and helpful and I think you will too.

Rob is a worship leader, blogger, amateur author, and avid Instagram user. You can follow him on Twitter @robrash and read his blog at robrash.us 23

REVIEWS

For the Sake of the World Bethel Live

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or The Sake Of The World, the latest release from Bethel Live contains 13 new songs of praise, featuring worship leaders Brian and Jenn Johnson, Jeremy Riddle, William Matthews, and Steffany Frizzell-Gretzinger.

Recorded live at Bethel Church in Redding, CA, this album is filled with a treasure trove of new songs for the church to sing. Brian Johnson, Worship Pastor at Bethel, says the purpose of this album is “for the world to see us burning for Him… We’ve seen it throughout history – when there is a man or woman of God that burns for Him, it’s contagious.”

One of the many standout tracks on this album is the opening track, “To Our God”. Featuring Brian Johnson, tons of toms and lap steel, this song starts out quietly, but then builds to a soaring anthem of praise by the end of the song. With lyrics that lend themselves so well to congregational singing, this song is sure to find its way into churches around the country.

Songs featuring Jenn Johnson include “Our Father”, a song based on The Lord’s Prayer, written by Marcus Meier from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City; and “Who You Are”, written by Jenn Johnson and daughter, Haley, which is built around a single chord that is repeated every beat in every measure of the song.

You may recognize a couple of the songs from the previous Bethel release The Loft Sessions, although the arrangements here are drastically different. In “You Have Won Me”, gone is the banjo, twostep feel and hand clapping version from The Loft Sessions, and instead the song takes on an entirely new feel, more of a modern ballad.

Although I liked the originality and uniqueness of the original version, this version lends itself much better for congregational use. “This is What You Do” also appeared on the earlier album as a fun, upbeat, acoustic two-step, while here it takes on more of a half-time, driving anthem. While this new version works, it seems to be missing some of the rhythmic nuances in the band needed to

match the rhythm of the lyrics.

There are so many talented worship leaders and songwriters on the Bethel Live team, and they each have a time to shine. Worship leader/songwriter William Matthews pens and lends his voice on “Freedom”, a song based on 2

Corinthians 3:17, and Steffany Frizzel-Gretzinger’s recognizable voice appears on “Closer”, a song written by Amanda Cook.

Of course, Jeremy Riddle also plays a major role on this album.

“This is Amazing Grace”, another standout track co-written by Jeremy, Phil Wickham, and Josh Farro, describes our amazing and powerful King of Glory, and then celebrates the wonderful grace of this King who would lay down His life for us. Among many others, Jeremy also co-wrote “Forgiven” with Brian Johnson, a powerful song that focuses on the mercy and grace we received at the foot of the cross.

Finally, the album ends with the title track, “For the Sake of the World”, which is a moving song of surrender, and a great way to end the album. Getting back to the purpose of the album, the chorus says it all – “For the sake of the world burn like a fire in me | Light a flame in my soul for every eye to see | For the sake of the world burn like a fire in me”.

For The Sake Of the World releases October 2nd, with a CD/DVD digipak which includes videos of all 13 songs plus 5 behind the scenes videos. And, for the first time an iTunes LP, which includes all of the above plus all the chord charts and a photo gallery. Produced

by Brian Johnson, Ian McIntosh (keys) and Jeffrey Kunde (guitars), the band also includes Chris Quilala (Jesus Culture) on drums.

With such depth of lyrics written for the church to sing, memorable

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melodies and talented musicians, For The Sake Of The World is an album you will definitely want to add to your collection for both personal and corporate worship. (by Barry Westman, @bkwestman)

Walk

Will Retherford

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alk is the sophomore release

by Will Retherford to his first album Awake. The words I would use to describe Walk would be tasteful, mature and interesting.

It was produced by Michael Rossback – producer for Paul Baloche, Gungor, and Jared Anderson, and it shows. Walk is an eclectic mix of music, and mood. The production is so well done that it feels less like an album and more like an experience. The album also captures what feels like seasons, colors and change. There are a broad range of ideas and styles displayed here in a simple, clean way.

Out of the 11 tracks on this album the styles vary but have a cohesive center to it all. Tracks like “Rescue Us” call out to God in a time where

many of us have been asked the question: “God, are You there?” with lyrics like “Will You rescue us, will You rescue us?” It’s like David in the Psalms crying out to God in a vulnerable, exasperated hour.

But not all the songs have such a heavy tone.

Take “Narrow”, for example, which has a lighter upbeat feel that would be the perfect soundtrack for an Apple commercial. Will sings “As the sun goes down, You light my way…” and “When I fall onto my face You will come, Oh you will come, You will come…”

Another great example of the mood and feel the album captures is the haunting “Let It Come”. It features the talent of vocalist and co-writer of this song, Brooke Williams, who sings some Leigh Nash style vocals and harmonies which compliment the song and Will perfectly. The song was so well produced and executed it made me feel like there was a chill in the air and that snow was falling all around me. Near the end Brooke sings out “Peace on Earth” which drives the wintry theme home and could also make for a great Christmas song. Not only does the music paint a picture but the lyrics as well. Will writes “Like a furious man coming for his bride, who can no longer stand the sounds of her cries…”.

There are many layers, seasons and colors to this album and I think you’ll really enjoy it. (by Matt Neff, @matt_nef)

Resuscitate

Remedy Drive

I

was first introduced to Remedy Drive while watching the Vancouver Olympic games when their song “Hope” was used for their commercials. The song was tight musically with a solidly mastered sound, had a great message and enough ambiguity in its message of “hope’s not giving up” to light a spark of passion for any listener. It really helped enhance the theme of athletic drive and patriotic valor at that time.

As I eventually listened to the remaining tracks on Daylight is Coming (their last studio release album under Word Records), I noticed that there was a theme.

They seemed to have a signature sound - not unlike Switchfoot and Collective Soul - yet different.

Although they were comparable in certain aspects - a tight sound

and adventurous with timing and harmonies - they also had a unique signature: the piano. There was a

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REVIEWS

sense that regardless of the song, the piano became front and center at some point in each song. This to me is their unique difference setting themselves apart.

Having great songs in this business is often not enough, though. Thankfully, Remedy Drive harnessed their songs as a well-traveled band, not afraid to do hundreds of shows a year and all with the same 110% passion and aggressive theatrics of frontman David Zach.

I was concerned about what would come of the band when the other brothers decided to stop traveling, but with permission, David Zach was able to build a new foursome of talent that seemed to not only enhance the sonic offering, but almost feed David’s drive for stage performance. This band has definitely made their mark as a “live” band.

Overall, I find their latest album Resuscitate to be as tight and piano driven as the last, but I noticed some unique differences. These differences were firstly in the lyrics - emphasizing faith with more directness and secondly, they seemed to get a bit “messy” with the arrangements both instrumentally and vocally. Using distortion on some lead vocals were appropriate and purposeful, while other times the guitars were over-driven and feedback wandered through the tracks.

All in all, Resuscitate is a solid offering, with a sound that you would expect: having the same overall feel and familiar voice in David Zach. If you were a fan of the band before, you will be very

pleased with this new album. New listeners will be engaged by “Better Than Life”, “Resuscitate Me” (with a notable reprise of lyrics from the previous track “Lost Cause”) and “Hold On”. There is a real live feel to this album unlike Daylight is Coming which I felt was more studio produced. I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention that I felt “Glory” was somewhat reminiscent of a disco style previously attempted by the Newsboys but was fun nonetheless.

There seems to be a good balance between rock and ballad and it sounded as though the band was much more free to express themselves. I’m not sure if that was the direction the band wanted to go or if Centricity Music simply gave them the freedom to explore different sounds, but they seem to have rejuvenated their energy as a band, stirred up excitement in their existing fan base, and, I suspect as they road test the new album, they will continue to do well and reach new listeners.

we find an inviting way of getting involved. Let’s take a closer look.

The album kicks off with the first two tracks from Brenton’s Our God is Near release - “Our God is Mercy” & “Joyful”. Similar in feel, the first is an anthem that forms the perfect start to a live album, and the latter is a cranked up song of praise set to the familiar “Ode to Joy” melody in the verses. These were two of the better songs from Our God is Near, and as with the start of the studio album, they set the scene and feel for the rest of the album.

(by Dan Thomson, @danthomsonmm)

God My Rock Brenton Brown

I’m going to come right out and say it - when you buy this album, turn it up loud and sing your heart out to the Lord. What we have in “God my Rock” - Brenton Brown’s first solo live album - is a rocking, heartfelt, passionate offering to the Lord, and it is only right that we should follow suit. Corporate worship is not a passive act; it’s a participation activity, and here

The title track - “God my Rock” - is catchy and highly charged, wholly conducive to events such as this, where 4000 young people came together for the Dare2Share event in Dayton, OH. The production on this track is cleverly done - backing off out of a loud, riff-based introduction into a sparsely layered verse, the crowd vocals really come across well. This song has the hallmarks of previous collaborations Brenton has had with Paul Baloche - it is

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simple, rocky, and highly effective - another great testament to their songwriting partnership.

Track 4 sees a re-work of “Just As I Am” - with an added chorus inspired by Brenton’s feelings at seeing responses to altar calls. “I will never forget the lady who ran to the front even before Will had finished speaking, asking, ‘Is this real? Is this happening? Can I get saved right now?’” remembers Brenton sitting backstage getting ready for Will Graham to make his appeal at a Billy Graham Evangelistic Association event.

“It was so moving and unforgettable. I was so grateful when the lines ‘Jesus take all of me, I run to You, I run to You’ came to me, in a small way capturing the specialness of those nights.” This really resonates with me, hearts turning to the Lord is an amazing thing, let’s never take it as anything other than that.

The blending of old with new forms a good thematic backdrop for the rest of the album as a whole.

Solid versions of Brown/Baloche tracks “Hosanna” & “Glorious” intersperse neatly with good new material such as “Jesus My Redeemer (Communion Song)” (a co-write with Saddleback’s Travis Ryan) and the beautiful “Like the Angels”. I’d forgotten just how good “Humble King” is, and the country gospel vibe to “I Saw the Light” is a great change-up in the mix of the album. Finally, the closeout track “Everlasting God” comes with a surprising twist - an upbeat, four to the floor take on the chorus of “How He Loves” this would be a great version to do in church every now and again.

Listening to this album brought back memories of some of the early Vineyard UK releases, to which Brenton contributed hugely in songwriting and leading. It was surprising to me that this was his first solo live release, but after this,

I’m sure there will be a few more. (by Ed Rotheram, @edrotheram)

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