Monosyllabic Praise!!

The recording project that we've been working on is once again in full swing. I got the concept ideas for the artwork done by Don and it has come out awesome. I must say that my friends are very talented! Gretchen put t0gether the song list and musicians were given lots of room to do what they did best when we finally went for it. I'm very glad that we did it as a worship service with only one take. One chance to get it right. Gretchen gave me the opportunity to pick the order of songs, which to me is the best part of picking a set list. I love picking set lists.

In the movie High Fidelity, there is a scene where John Cusack is down and out because of a girl, and his friends finding him re-arranging his album collection not by genre, or musician, but autobiographically. Not to try to sound artsy, but when I pick a set list for a sunday morning service, or whatever, I always end up with the autobiographical list. With this list, although I didn't pick the songs, I got to pick the order, and I thought "man I nailed it!". Can't really go wrong with that song selection. Like any well developed novel I had a great introduction, good character development, detailed rising action, then the point where the novel reached it's climax in the story, and then resolved.

It was about three seconds into the first song where I was reminded that the Holy Spirit does not often follow our road map. We get on the bus with Him. There is a point in the set that is so spontaneous, and free that I could not have planned or anticipated it at all. After singing songs of praise to our Lord and Savior. Extolling to Him that "You alone are Father, You alone are good, You alone are Savior, You alone are God!", and recieving the blessing that is the outpouring of His grace there comes a point where all there is left to do is raise both hands high, look to the Lord and yell "Yeah!!!" No more words, just pure unhindered adoration. That moment, that word, sums the whole event up. Sums up my walk with the Lord. Sometimes I don't need words to let Him know how thankfull I am.

Is this a promotion for the cd? You bet it is! I can't wait to finish, and give 100 copies to my friends, have them burn them and give them to others. I want this to be a tool for the Lord. To let Him minister to others about His grace, mercy, and comfort.

Final thoughts.... My friend Gretchen, who was the brain child and the pipes for the worship service, is in the mission field right now. Giving the breath that the Lord has placed in her lungs to witness to the lost, and enabling others to go out and preach the good news. I have never experienced the team she is working with firsthand, but have heard the amazing stories of how the Lord is using them to win back those in captivity. Check out Carpenter's Tools International. See what Gretchen and all those crazy people who choose to congregate in Minnesota during the winter are doing to reclaim this planet as God's. http://www.carpenterstools.org/