Wisdom Moonmy journey of faith

Okay, so recently I purchased an iPod Touch. I can’t believe all the capabilities it has. A few days into discovering the apps, I found myself thinking I should write a blog post about being a father of 2 toddler boys. After you read the list below you’ll see why. Here it goes…

You Know You Have Toddlers If…

• Your iPod Touch has more kids apps than your own.
• On your drive home from work you think about what you’re gonna play with the kids.
• Your phone has 30 text messages in the Draft box that look like this: dfoeks9afgjj;oaw
• On your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night you injure yourself from stepping on toy cars and dinasours.
• You catch yourself telling your co-worker you have to go potty.
• You and your spouse spell out words in regular conversations (like K-I-L-L-E-D or S-P-I-C-Y).
• You find yourself jamming to kids music in the car.
• You can’t get through playing one song on the guitar without one of the kids asking a question, crying, or breaking something. This is especially fun when you’re in the middle of singing an intense worship song…. “Lord, we cry out for Your mercy. Lord, we cry out for Your grace…stop fighting! Give it back to your brother!…Lord, we cry out once again.”

What would YOU add to this list?

I came across a survey that CCLI recently conducted of their license holders. The results are very interesting. You may be a little surprised at some of the findings. I know I was.

Go check it out.

Sitting here after a long day of work and interviews for the All About Worship Podcast. Between yesterday and today I’ve interviewed three different worship leaders: Jared Anderson, Chris McClarney, and Mike Kim. Also been trying to keep my websites updated, All About Worship tweets updated, and take care of emails.

A lot going on in my life right now…full-time day job, husband, father of three kids 4 and under, podcasting, interviewing artists, planning the All About Worship Retreat, working on a website for Darrell Evans, working on the launch of All About Worship Premium, and the list just keeps going. It’s like even when I’m not working, I’m working.

I’ve been listening to a sermon series by Pastor Craig Groeschel (LifeChurch.tv) called “Margin“. The first part of this message series he talks about creating margin in your daily schedule and saying no to things that may be good things, but not what’s best at that time. I’ve been really keeping that in mind lately. Opportunities have come up even just in the past week to be involved in good things, but what I felt would distract me from the more important things that are on my plate right now. I’ve also been very intentional about not being out more than one or two nights a week and spending most nights at home with my wife.

I love to be really active and involved in ministry. I hate not being engaged in ministry leadership. These past two years have been the longest I’ve gone not being in full-time vocational ministry. It feels weird. Every day I go to work I feel out of my element. I feel like I’m not where I really belong.

However, I know that it’s been real good for me to step away from full-time church work for a while and just work out in the world. I’ve learned a lot about myself, about people, and about what it’s like to clock in and out of a job that you’re not really passionate about.

I’m looking forward to all that God has in store this year. I really feel strongly that this is the year of beginning to harvest in many areas of my life.

I met her while she was still in high school.

I never imagined we would be married with three little ones in 2010.

We’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve faced our share of trials and tribulations.

We know what it’s like to have plenty; what it’s like to be in need.

Having God on our side and having each other got us through every season.

She’s taught me so much about love, faithfulness, and perseverance.

We’ve endured many challenges life threw at us.

I have regrets about some of the decisions I’ve made in my life.

One decision I don’t regret is marrying you, my Bride.

You have been such a gift to me. I don’t know how I could’ve done life without you.

I admire you and respect you more than any other woman on this earth.

Thanks for being so faithful to me all these years. Thanks for being so patient with me; for believing in me; for always being there for me.

I love you so much.

We have received questions from some of our listeners on how to lead with an electric guitar vs. an acoustic guitar.  Since neither Wisdom or Ben lead “plugged in”, we asked Troy Kennedy if he wouldn’t mind sharing with you all his set up and any advice he might have for a leader making that transition. HUGE thanks to Troy for taking time to share with us.  (BTW: Troy will be at the upcoming AllAboutWorship retreat) Check the video below for a great rig walk thru with Troy then scroll below for a detailed list of his set up:

The best thing I can say is to keep it very simple, especially at first. It can be very distracting if you have too many elements to juggle while you are leading. Some guys should never get too deep into this stuff. It can be a hole in the ground in which to pour money. So only pursue this stuff if you need to, it is fun for you and it doesn’t derail you as a lead worshiper. Consider yourself warned! (Actually, it is a lot of fun in an OCD kind of way for me.)

Start off with a Telecaster and a good low powered amp like a Vox AC15 or Fender Deluxe Reverb (Either the Hot Rod or the Reissue. I like the reissue.) Even with those amps, it is unlikely you will get the amp loud enough in your church for it to be breaking up on it’s own. You will need pedals for any kind of overdrive or distortion.

Also, the digital modeling route is a great, cost effective way to go. Can sound great if you spend time dialing it in. For most churches, may be the best way to go. The Line6 X3 Live would be my recommendation. Plus, you can download artist patches online from guys like Lincoln Brewster who have it very dialed in. Great for all levels of players and the price is right!

The options are endless but here are a few ideas. Remember it can get expensive very fast. Keep it simple and take your time developing your rig. Don’t add to it until you are very comfortable with your basic setup

Basic entry level, inexpensive setup:
Telecaster
Vox AC15 or Fender Deluxe
Line6 M9 for effects (distortions, delays etc..)
(or bag it all and get the X3 Live!)

Mid Level:
Strat or Les Paul type guitar
Vox AC30, Fender Twin, Marshall (these are LOUD amps)
Line6 M13 (more effects options)
Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Overdrive or some tube screamer variant
Ratt Distortion, and some kind of Fuzz. Zvex (Only buy these kind pedals if you don’t like the distortions/OD’s in the M13. Most people will never exhaust the possibilities of the M13)
Volume pedal.

High End:
Boutique guitars like Suhr, Anderson, Tyler, Fender Custom Shop.
Effects: Either the M13 or the Fractal Audio Axe FX. There are a TON of great pedal makers out there.
I like Suhr amps for their flexibility, quality and amazing sound. EIther the Badger 18, Badger 30 or PT50/100. The Badger amps incorporate something called power scaling that allows you to get power amp break up at low volumes. VERY COOL! Also a hand wired AC30 is really nice.

This is my rig (right now):
Guitars- Suhr S1, Suhr M2, Anderson Atom -- elixir strings and cable.
Effects -- M13, Lovepedal Eternity, Suhr Koko Boost, Radial amp switcher.
Amps -- Suhr Badger 18 through open back 2x12 with a blue and H30. Suhr PT50 (3 channels) through 2x12 closed back with Scumback M75’s (better versions of a celestion greenback to my ears.)

warning! -- I play my amps at very high volumes because we keep the cab’s in iso boxes backstage. Otherwise, I would stick to the Badger, power scaled amps or a direct rig like the Line6 X3Live or Fractal AxeFX. Most popular amps like the Ac30 are just too loud for church applications without a tone of baffling.

-Troy

One of my goals for 2010 is to learn new techniques on the guitar such as this one…

Not…

I don’t know how this kid is playing the guitar like this! Amazing!

1. Kansas weather is unpredictable.
I realized how random and unpredictable Kansas weather is. Day before Christmas Eve it was about 50 degrees; Christmas Eve we faced a blizzard. Enough said…I was singing “I’m dreaming of a warm, sunny, California Christmas” in my head.

2. There are still Good Samaritans.
We were driving out of our driveway on Christmas to go to our in-laws 10 miles away. Being the Californian that I am, I didn’t think about the piles of snow from the blizzard. Needless to say we didn’t even make it out of our driveway and got stuck in the snow. I got my snow shovel out and started to dig around the tires. We saw one of our neighbors shoveling snow as well and trying to get out of ourcul-de -sac. I shoveled for a long time, probably 20 minutes, and just couldn’t get our minivan out of our driveway. Our neighbor at this point made it out of our cul-de-sac into freedom. Then, after driving away several yards they stopped. A guy came out of the car with a shovel and ran back to our house and offered to help. He wasn’t even wearing a coat in the below freezing weather! With his help we were finally able to make our way to my in-laws…after 30 minutes of shoveling. We had a few other Good Samaritans help us get our van unstuck that day.

3. I don’t like winter.
When I lived in California I always told people I like winter better than summer. Obviously, winter really doesn’t exist in California. As harsh as summer is here in Kansas, I much prefer it over having snow storms. This past weekend I stayed couped up indoors as much as my wife would tolerate.

4. Playing video games is good for your health.
We were blessed with a Wii this Christmas. Of course, my boys love it, but I love it just as much! I didn’t realize playing video games can be so good for you. I haven’t had my heart pumping so much for a while as I did playingWii sports. My arms and shoulders are still sore. I love all the sports games: tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing, but I think my favorite is tennis. I’m quickly working my way up to Pro level. Anybody wanna challenge me?

5. It’s good to get away from the computer.
I really didn’t go on the computer much this past weekend, which is unusual for me. (My wife says that I’m always on the computer.) I have a lot of things in the works (i.e. new websites, worship retreat, etc.). However, I really just wanted to hang out and enjoy my wife and kids. It was such a blast! I think this was probably my most memorable Christmas ever. There was no drama, no arguments, and no sicknesses.

Thank you, Lord, for such a special Christmas. Thank you for my amazing wife and kids. I am so blessed to have them.

This is a powerful song…led by Chris Quilala and Kim Walker of Jesus Culture.

I love this video of MercyMe at the shooting range. I especially love the background music by Carman. Perfect for this video.