Wow! I started writing this post on June 14, 2011. I never finished because I didn’t really know how to say whatever it was I was trying to say. So it has sat in my draft for 11 months. Today this title means something completely different than it did then. I was writing about the Joplin tornadoes and the destruction that devastated that city. I had written a song to go along with the title and I guess I was trying to share that song. That didn’t work. I guess I’m not that good at self promotion. But that’s another story…

As I looked at this post sitting there all this time, I could very well see how that fit into my life right now. There’s so much going on right now in my life and it feels like I’m kinda out here by myself. I know that isn’t the case, but struggle begins to wear on your mind and leads you to believe that you are all alone. I needed to hear my own words this morning. I had to be able to declare that God is in the middle of all the things that I’m going through. I have to accept that He is really in control even when I feel as if I’m in the spiral of crazy.

Are you going through something right now that seems too much for you? Are things crumbling around you? Do you feel like you’re alone in the struggle? Let me assure you that you aren’t. God is right there. Rest in that fact. Praise Him for that fact. Keep moving forward in Him. He’s going to stay right there with you. As a matter of fact, if you let it go, he will actually lead. That’s truth.

It’s not REALLY a special guest post, but here’s a link that I found that speaks to my heart about the matter of the worship war within the church. Read it and tell me what you think. Then have an awesome weekend!

http://www.christianpost.com/news/ending-the-worship-war-without-a-truce-41771/

I am always being asked by people if I know someone looking for a worship leader job or if a church is looking to hire someone. Many times I’m talking to friends who are struggling to find churches that work for them. I spend lots of time looking at websites designed to display jobs for worship leaders all over the country. Churches of all sizes are doing what they can to entice musicians to come to their church. The larger churches make it easy. Their profile says that they are a church of 2501-5000 people and that it’s a full time job with pay and benefits based on experience. Smaller churches have it tough. Their profile says church of 151-300 and it’s a volunteer position that could become permanent part-time in 12-18 months. But they are ALL out there. All denominations and styles join in this party making this something that ends up being sort of stressful.

I often wonder about this process. Granted, I have found a job using this medium and have found it beneficial in helping others as well. But I am intrigued as to how we approach finding someone to lead our churches. I mean, words can be typed to say whatever we want, but I wonder what matters most to churches in the Worship Leader Sweepstakes. Obviously we want them to be talented musicians and want them to have some sort of ability to lead a team. But how much is really dependent on their theology and approach to worship? Before I continue, let me say that I am not speaking as someone who is upset about being turned down by a church or anything like that. I’m asking questions because, from the worship leader side I believe that we should be as strong theologically as we are musically, if not more. I wonder just how much churches dig into the brains and hearts of the people they bring in to make sure that the person is where they want them to be.

Honestly, my prayer goes out strongest for the smaller churches. Smaller churches are always looking for someone to come in and lead music and handle that portion of the service. A lot of times leaders will use churches of that size as stepping stones to something bigger and better, which leaves the smaller church in a bind more times than not. And so I wonder if small churches have the tendency to maybe overlook some theological discrepancies for the sake of a talented musician…

Is there a better way to do this? Is there a better way to find someone to lead your congregation musically and spiritually? Is this approach a non-biblical one? Should we approach finding leaders in a less corporate way? Is this just a way for the church to take advantage of the technological world that we live in? As always, I’m just throwing the questions out there. What say you?

I need some help. Now before most of my friends that read this go off on the “you darn right you do” tangent, hear me out (you can go off on that tangent later). A long time ago when I first started this whole musician as a lifestyle thing, one of the things I knew in my heart is that I was called to be a bridge. Ever since I was little the Walls III family was a bridge. We’ve always been the family that totally fit in everywhere. My dad has brought many different types of people together. I’ve witnessed him preach to thousands in a mixed group of denomination, race, political allegiance, etc. We’ve gone to share the gospel in Catholic churches in Illinois, straight up super baptist churches in Wayne County, MO, Presbyterian churches in south St. Louis. We’ve been all over the place sharing the Word of God. As a result, there are a lot of people who would have never had anything to do with an African American pastor who love my family and would do anything for them and vice versa. So it’s only right that as my life develops into what God is making it, that bridge building has continued. My wife and I are bridge builders on purpose. That’s how we live our lives. And that’s why I’m writing this now.

I was reading a book this morning that got me to thinking about the never ending argument that is contemporary versus traditional or old versus new or hymns versus praise choruses. Whatever you want to call it, this book dealt with that. Like most, it started out really good. The theology was spot on and the points being made were very well stated. Articulation was immaculate. Everything was going well until the appendix. That’s pretty much all you needed to read of this book to get where the author was coming from. Without going into too much, it’s safe to say that we still have people out there on both sides that don’t get it.

At the end of the day I feel that we have to get people to talk. There’s no way this book would have been written the way it was had the author sat down and talked to some songwriters and worship leaders of today. I want to find a way to get people in the same room together to have this conversation. People are writing books and blogs that are attacking the other side, but many of these people aren’t getting together. I think that’s wrong. No, I KNOW that’s wrong. So let’s fix it. I don’t know who I have to talk to, but someone who knows someone who knows someone famous needs to contact me so I can share my idea. I don’t want to just write another book about it. I want to create a conference or a panel discussion, or a round table with doughnuts or something that will get people in the same room talking about all this stuff. So this is my plea to someone out there. Let’s see if we can lay egos aside and just talk. Anyone out there? Anyone?

The dating scene is a continuously crazy event. Now granted, I haven’t been on the dating scene in over 10 years, but I know people that are still part of it and they keep me informed. There’s a lot of people out there to meet, and there’s no way you’ll ever meet them all. Keeping with that thought, you probably shouldn’t TRY to meet them all either. Just sayin’… On the good side, it’s quite possible that you’ll get the chance to meet lots of different types of people. People that you probably would have never met otherwise. People like you, people not like you. People that you would never talk to only to find out that you kinda like them. People like you that makes you wonder why you like what you like. Dating takes you on an interesting adventure.

I look at music discovery in the same way. There are so many different types of music in the world today that it is a job in itself just trying to listen to it all. In the past few years I have discovered music that I probably would have never listened to or even tried to find on my own. This is true in the church as well as the rest of the world. There are songs and artists that I would have never known or heard on in my own searching, but I’m glad that I listen to now. There is music that has brought joy to my life and I only heard it because someone simply said, “hey, check this out.” There is some music that I’ve heard and I’m sad that I spent that 4 minutes of my life on that song. But all of these things have been used in shaping my musical tastes.

I write this because one of the conversations I have the most about what I do is about genres and styles and preferences. At the end of the day (for me, at least) is the desire to listen to and lead people in music that brings glory to God and is theologically correct. With that being my main parameters, that leaves a lot to listen to. Then the journey begins. I believe that some of us need to widen our parameter just a little and see if God shows you something that you never would have noticed before. Maybe even if it’s only for an experiment, it would be fun to try. Let me know what you come up with because I’m always on the lookout for new music.

It feels like years since I sat here and wrote a post! I’ve been super busy and life has finally started to slow down…a little. Even after all the years I have worked in a church, I am always amazed at the amount of work we put in for Easter Sunday. Once I get to the other end of this holiday, I look back and the numerous hours put into blow my mind. But we are celebrating the death and resurrection of our Savior. That shouldn’t be tiring, right? Well…

So here’s the question that seems to rise every year. What do we do next? Easter was a big deal, everyone enjoyed it. Now what? I just had this conversation with a couple of worship leaders this weekend. How do you deal with what’s next after this big “event”? I joked about it last week, but a lot of pastors and worship leaders take the week off and give their churches the “B” team. I don’t know if that’s okay to call them that. I don’t know if it’s okay to do that to churches either. That’s another post for another time though.

Honestly, I don’t know if it’s possible to put on that type of a “production” on a regular basis. That’s just tiring. However, I have decided that I should put just as much effort into everything I do. I realize that I should be in that mode of “whatever you do” each and every week. I haven’t been there all the time. So this Easter season has pressed me to be more intentional about my purpose for each and every service I produce.

There’s a lot more to share, but I have to ease back into blogging again because I took such a long, ill-advised break. Thanks to all of you who take time to read what I have to say. I appreciate it and am humbled by the thought. Have a great Wednesday!

So, I’m smack dab in the middle of Easter preparations. I thought I would have the chance to do this a lot more because I wanted to have more reflections leading up to this weekend. Instead, this has turned into a non stop running of the bulls. Part of the reason why I’m thankful for this time right now. Today is sort of that calm place in the midst of a hurricane. I can see the crazy happening around me, and I know it’s going to pass right back over me any second. In the mean time, there’s a small piece of calm that is allowing me to rest for a second. Thank the LORD!

Where is your heart as this Holy Week gears up? Does your church do a Maundy Thursday service or Good Friday or both? Does your family do a big meal together? Are you going this week to buy special suits and dresses for your children? Does your church have times when the kids do Easter speeches? That was the thing when I was little. All the little kids had to learn their Easter speeches and share them during the service. There was lots of crying and little girls hidden among all the lace. Oh, the Eighties.

I have been a worship leader for a really long time now and have been involved with planning big services in various sized churches. I’m always amazed at how much time gets poured into a service for a special Sunday. Then I think, “What would happen if this type of thought and planning went into every week?” Then I fall over and go to sleep from that tiring thought. But there is so much wrapped up in making this day special that I’m afraid that we can lose sight of what we are really doing. My prayer for each and every one you, whatever you’re doing this weekend, that you wouldn’t lose sight of Christ and what His death and resurrection means.

I always seem to have the worship leader confessions on Friday. I think that’s because by the end of the week a lot of the busy things that are going on have slowed down at least enough for me to think about things other than what works and what doesn’t work and how much money it will cost to fix it. Also, I’m generally confronted with some of the things that I do that are either funny, or sad, or purposeful that people who don’t do this job would probably never know. This is one of those major things, for me at least.

I can’t remember the last time I just sat down to play piano just because I love to play piano. I know, that’s horrible of me. But more times than not I get stuck in the rut of getting the job done and preparing for the next week that I don’t just sit down and do the thing that got me here in the first place. I love to make music and create things and figure out stuff that I didn’t know before. I used to do that a lot more before I got wrapped up in the system that is church. Now, do I regret my job? Not at all. Do I sometimes let it take me away from the things that I love? Yes, yes I do. There are many times when I’ve sat down and just wanted to play, but ended up going over songs for Sunday or something else like that. I’ve squashed my own creativity. Silly me.

One of the things that have brought this reality to the forefront for me is being able to listen to other music besides what I’m working on for church. That was one of my other confessions early on. Anyway, one of the CDs that I have been listening almost non-stop lately is by an amazing musician named Robert Glasper. The name of the CD is Black Radio. It is a beautifully crafted jazz album with some amazing vocalists as well as musicians. It’s inspiring to me, which is part of the reason I continue to listen to it. I think I need to sit down and learn one or two of the songs on that CD. Let’s see how that goes…

What is something that you love to do that has taken a back seat because of “real life”? Do you find yourself in a similar predicament to me? Or am I all alone here? I don’t think that I am, and I’m not willing to accept that I am either. Thoughts?

When musicians are playing together there is always that one place they are looking for. It’s the place where you can sit and everyone knows what’s going on and what’s coming next. We call it the pocket. It’s that place where everyone fits together and moves as one group. When players get together for the first time, there’s always this desire to get there. Sometimes the longer it takes the more frustrated the group becomes. You keep trying and it feels like you’re moving further and further away. However, once you finally get there, the whole group knows it and feels it and you believe that you can play forever. It’s really fun to watch a band who has played together for a long time. They seem to just wake up and are already there. It doesn’t matter what’s going on, they just get there and stay there and you’re usually in for a good time.

As a worship pastor, I am charged with finding that pocket for my church. Whilst in the middle of that search I also have to be searching for that pocket within the band. And usually that is multiple “pockets” if you have multiple bands, or rotating positions. Sometimes these factors make finding the pocket a really difficult task. Sometimes you find a group that really works. Sometimes you find a group that doesn’t work. Sometimes your group that normally works sounds as if they’ve never played together before. Sometimes your trouble group surprises you and starts to make some amazing music together.

Once you’ve found that pocket for your groups, you then have to have that translate to the congregation. This is where things get tricky. People have specific tastes and those specifics are about as different as they come. 4 people could have 13 different tastes and none of them would be what you are trying to do on a specific weekend. Sometimes you will have worked hard on a set with your band and everyone feels confident and come Sunday it falls on deaf ears in the church. Sometimes you can go out with a set that you aren’t so confident in and it totally blows away the whole church and there’s this awesome time of meeting the Lord in worship that you could have never imagined.

What does all of this mean? Well, I’m always amazed at how much work is put into planning a worship service and getting all the pieces to fit. The funniest part of it all for me is that I can do all of this work and God will completely turn it on its head. So in the end, the pocket that I’m looking for is His. Finding Christ’s pocket will always result in finding where you should be with the church. When you are doing what He says do, He does the work of making sure that it reaches the people. It may not always sound like you want it to or look like you think it should, but if God is doing it, it will always be effective. And that’s my encouragement for the day.

How do you measure success? Well, a lot of the time it depends on who you are and what you do. Athletes determine success by wins and championships. Lawyers by cases won. Doctors by lives saved. Businesses by the bottom line. Worship leaders define success in a few different ways. I thought I would have some fun and list them for you.

1. No one really says anything to you after the service.

2. You didn’t get the “What in the world is he singing???” face.

3. No one got up and walked out during the songs.

4. You didn’t have to completely stop a song and start it over because the band was playing in different keys.

5. The lady that sits in the fourth row looking completely disinterested actually raises her hands (to her waist) during the songs.

6. The sound guy still wants to go to lunch with you after the service.

7. The youth group thinks you’re lame because you aren’t singing that new song from that new group that hasn’t been discovered by the mainstream people and they don’t even have a CD out yet because they are really only practicing in the garage but they will make it someday and we will all forget about Third Day because they will be so much better their first new song which is just a remake of Hosanna by Hillsong with all emo chords because that’s where the real worship is.

8. The older people think that the worship that we sing on a regular basis is not even real music because it isn’t taken straight from the scripture and it doesn’t tell a whole story but just repeats the chorus over and over again and uses guitars and doesn’t say Thee or Plight or Shalt or any of those fun words and the music isn’t challenging even though they would also complain that some hymns were too hard to sing because of their range but that’s not the point and you probably don’t even know any of the good hymns that they grew up listening to and they leave with a headache because the speakers were too loud for their ears.

9. The pastor just tells you to keep doing what you’re doing because whatever it is seems to be working.

10. All of these things happen in the same day to the point that it isn’t until after the service that someone in the front row lets you know that you led the whole service with your fly open.

These are 10 things that speak success in worship leading on a regular basis. Are there any others that you can think of? Let’s hear what you got.