Ideas...

Well, actually only one idea at the moment, and if I think of more, all will be good. If I don't, all will still be good.

While taking the worship leading class at my school in the Philippines (which rocked), we grew instrumentally, vocally, and even in terms of picking songs. We were cruising. We thought.

One week the Old Testament teacher came up to us. "You guys are doing great, but you're missing something. The Word of God. It brings worship to life."

Chastened, and a little annoyed, we decided to take what she said and try it. Lo and behold, when we stuck one Bible verse in there, it felt like God used it to breathe life into worship. Finally, it wasn't us doing an amazing job: it was God. We were merely His tools.

The lesson I learned here, and one I would like to start back up again, is read Scripture during worship. Granted, it's not a magic formula, and we can still ruin it if we do it for our benefit. But I think it's a good idea, and I believe it's even several places in the Bible. If not, I know it was a standard thing for the Israelites to do; to sing songs, and read Scripture, and sing more songs.

So... for those of you who still read this... happy birthday! And I'd like to talk about this Saturday. For those of you who don't... it doesn't really matter... because you don't read this...

But here it is in its most coherent form, as sometimes I have a hard time explaining things verbally, lol.

Musings about Online collaboration

Up to this point I have been posting to this blog as "Band Leader". From now on I'm going to be posting as "Jason". Just an FYI

I believe I've told most of the Worship band that our plan is to use various google online tools for collaboration and better communication/organization.

Google Account/ Google Docs

If you're still perhaps a little confused when I mention our "google account" or "Google Docs", well you definitely need to watch the following Youtube videos. The first one describes exactly what Google documents does and is for. The second one describes how to get yourself a google account. (Especially if you're the type that needs your hand held when doing anything new. :))

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRqUE6IHTEA

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjTQt3Th85U

Current Band Members have received in the last several weeks in their e-mail addresses an invitation I sent inviting them to to contribute to this blog. Some of you have already done so. If you respond to the invitation , you will be directed to get a google account so that you can contribute. Video # 2 is about filling out the registration page.

The first five minutes of the following video illustrates how Google Calendar can be used on a team. (The video puts the emphasis on using it to market a company event, but it's a good overview for any type of team or group that wants to use google calendar.

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syafzhi7f24

Some of this may be new and may take some time to familiarize yourself with. I'm confident that ya'll are intelligent enough to figure it out though :) Remember, learning takes effort. (See the quote below).

""Vanity inclines us to find faults any where rather than in ourselves.
He that reads and grows no wiser seldom suspects his own deficiency;
but complains of hard words and obscure sentences,
and asks why books are written which cannot be understood."
-Samuel Johnson

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more musings about online collaboration!