Valley Life Churches are essentially a network of churches that choose to cooperate together. We believe that we can do more together than we can do apart. Of the things that make up our connection to each other like common vision and sharing of staff members, none are as important to who we are as … Continued
Several weeks ago, my wife was telling me about a video she had seen. It’s Hugh Jackman and the prospective cast of “The Greatest Showman” singing some of the songs from the film to executives in the hopes of getting the movie green-lit. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but then she explained that Jackman … Continued
I grew up in the land of Woody Guthrie. The folk singer grew up about thirty miles from my hometown, and his legacy is well known in the area. Guthrie is best known as the folk singer who wrote the famous protest song, “This Land is Your Land,” and inspired a number of musicians in … Continued
As I write this I’m listening to U2’s seminal album, The Joshua Tree, and I hear Bono singing about how he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for. After that album was released, the band did a documentary called Rattle and Hum, in which they traveled to Harlem and sang the song with a gospel … Continued
I recently lead worship for an event at a different church. I gave them the set I planned to sing ahead of time to prepare their tech team and band. Everything looked good until about a week before the event was scheduled. At that point, I got a call from the young lady organizing everything. … Continued
Last week, my four-year-old walked around the house for at least twenty minutes singing, “You are good, good, oh!” We sang “King of My Heart” that morning at church, and I think he could hear the church singing from his classroom. Our church already sings quite loudly, but that refrain always brings out the loudest … Continued
The most nervous I have ever been while leading worship was during chapel at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. I fretted for weeks over what songs to sing, finally settled on a set, and practiced as much as I could. The day came, and I got on stage to play the songs I had planned. Everything … Continued
Since I first tasted Chick-fil-A twenty years ago at a mall in Enid, Oklahoma, I have loved it. But, I never really expected to be working for them. I never thought I would go from being a full-time minister of 8 years to being a bi-vocational pastor who works at Chick-fil-A. It was quite the … Continued
I grew up in a little church in Oklahoma. Every week I picked up our burgundy hymnal with gold embossing, looked in the weekly bulletin for hymn numbers, and sang along with the choir, all ornately adorned in golden robes (notice the theme). This was the ritual I grew up with and grew to love. … Continued
Several weeks ago we introduced a new song to our congregation. It’s a well-written song that is rooted in Scripture and focused on Jesus. But for some reason, it did not “click” with our people. As a worship leader, this is frustrating because we only have a limited amount of time to engage with our … Continued
