Tag Archives: church

Post Summer – Pre Fall New Music List

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The title says it all

Life’s a little crazy right now but one of the things that’s keeping me trucking is the continual discovery of some great new music.  Here are some things that are inspiring me for congregational music as I look at the fall.

(click picture for link to the songs)

I’ve been a fan of Dustin Kensrue for a few years.  It’s even easier for me to be a fan of his new sound with his worship band, Modern Post, based out of Mars Hill O.C.  Check out their brilliant versions of “Before the Throne” and “Amazing Grace”.

 

 

I have not heard a song, any song, that has grabbed me like this since I first popped in Jonsi’s album “Go” 2 years ago.  Kenosis’ version of “How Deep The Father’s Love For Us” is not necessarily the greatest thing I’ve ever heard, but it’s probably the most exciting hymn rearrangement I’ve ever heard.  Love it!  Absolutely love it!

 

The Royal Royal came on the scene last year when they toured the U.S. with Hillsong United.  As soon as I heard their song “Praise Him” I was hooked.  It was what I wanted to hear from the worship music genre, because it didn’t sound like the genre.  And yet, while having a fresh sound that gives some nods to the influence of bands like Passion Pit the songs are still totally congregationally singable.  Great stuff.

 

I haven’t tried incorporating any Bellarive tunes into a worship set yet, but it’s only a matter of time.  I love their sound.  I’ll never be able to sing as high as this dude but their approach to worship music resonates with me.  I’m a fan.

 

 

This last one is something a little different, yet totally familiar.  Imagine some of the popular worship songs from the last few years…with a Punk Rock sound.  That’s what my buddy, Ryan Gartner from my home church has been working on.  Because fist pumps and praising Jesus just belong together.

 

 

What are you guys listening to?

The Exchange

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This week I want to use this post to speak to my church family at FAC

I love my church.  It’s been about 2 months now that I’ve been back on staff at FAC and I have never felt so certain that I am in the right place in ministry.

I get excited when I think about our church because I know that God is up to something big.  He is working on the deep places of our hearts.  He is calling us into closer relationship with Himself, and I believe we are starting to respond to His call with more and more faith and anticipation.

enter The Exchange

The Exchange is a new church experience that will be launching on October 14th.  It was birthed out of a desire to reach an even wider span of Calgary’s diverse community with the truth and hope of the Gospel.

Our purpose is to build lives that honour God.

  • We will be committed to upholding the authority of God’s Word
  • We will be committed to building Biblical Community
  • We will be committed to Biblical Discipleship

We are not reinventing the wheel.  We are not out to create a flashy new church service to be consumed.  We are not a rebellion against traditional or even contemporary church models.

God has gifted each of us in unique ways and He has given us influence so that we can make Him famous.  We’ll be a place of community.  We’ll be a place of the arts.  We’ll be a place for broken people.  We’ll be a place of acceptance.

So why the name The Exchange?

We believe that Jesus changed everything when He Exchanged his throne for our freedom. Everything we do and everything that we are is because of The Exchange.  (Philippians 2)

Every initiative and every aspect of our ministry will be filtered through our core values of Biblical Authority, Biblical Community, and Biblical Discipleship.

What is this service going to look like/feel like/sound like?

That depends on how you want to get involved and what areas you’re passionate in.  We’re building this together.  Our goal is to foster a collaborative community in which people feel driven to use the gifts God has given them to serve together.

Who provides leadership to this service?

Pastor Brad Young and yours truly (Caleb Delamont) will be providing leadership for The Exchange.  There will also be some key leadership positions that will need to be filled along the way.  Maybe one of those positions will be for you?

 

We are essentially planting a church within a church.  This is as exciting as it is daunting but we know that God sized dreams rarely seem like simple tasks.

Come hear more about The Exchange

Sunday, September 2nd 

6:30pm in the Harvest Rooms at First Alliance Church (12345 40 St. SE, Calgary)

 

Consumed

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Sometimes I get pretty scared about doing ministry. In my life I’ve regularly attended church on 2 continents and since I was a kid I can remember people talking about what they ‘like’ and ‘don’t like’ about church. I wonder if we’ll ever be able to escape our checklist mindset of church.

I recently attended a prayer gathering that coincided with the end of Ramadan. I don’t know much about Ramadan but I believe it’s a fairly significant period of fasting and praying observed by Muslims around the world. The purpose of this gathering was to pray for Muslims everywhere. I was there to lead a short worship time. Throughout the night we heard a number of testimonies from mostly former Muslims who had found new life in Jesus.

They were powerful stories, and they made me feel a bit uneasy.

One man told of how he ran for days through treacherous terrain attempting to escape his country because he was afraid that this time the authorities wouldn’t stop at torture and imprisonment. He made it out, but not everyone from his group did.

Another man spoke passionately about wanting to return to his country to share the Gospel with his people. They had a group ready to go, but Christians there are being slaughtered and it would not be safe for them to go at this time.

(Side note, please pray for the Muslim world. They need Jesus and the believers there need encouragement. www.30-days.net)

So we serve the same Jesus, right?

It sure looks pretty different here.

The thing is I don’t necessarily think that we have a bunch of disingenuous Christians here. If we do that’s not really for me to judge (though I do all the time which as a reminder to myself and you is probably a sin). I for one know a lot of extremely passionate Jesus followers and I truly believe they would go anywhere and do anything for God.

But personally, I just can’t shake this checklist mentality from how I approach church. I have my worship leader checklist. I have my service flow checklist. I have my audio mix, visuals, greeters, ushers, checklists. I don’t mean to, and sometimes it’s not really there but that would be a rare case. I suck, I feel brutal, but it’s the truth.

In October we are launching a new service at my church. I’m the Creative Pastor for this new service. I feel the pressure of not just my own, but hundreds of people’s personal checklists. Will it be cool enough? Will it be just the thing that the 20 year old is looking for to get back into attending church? Will it be innovative enough? Will it “work”?

Ugh…

We’re too comfortable here in North America, yet this is where we are and that’s not a mistake. I’m not calling for tougher times for Christians or less technology and distraction in church. As with anything that has to do with following Jesus the important thing here is the posture and focus of our hearts.

When we’re thinking about ourselves we come in with a checklist.

When we are fully focused on Jesus and His Kingdom the checklist is gone.

Once again the bible says it much better than I could…

The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness. Philippians 3:7-9 (MSG)

 

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a rightspirit within me. Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

 

Will we go on “Consuming” or will we ask Jesus to “Consume” us?

 

Unity Is Good

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the STATE of churches in North America is that we’re constantly comparing ourselves with each other

the STATE of churches in North America is that we think bigger is better

the STATE of churches in North America is that we think “our way” is right

the STATE of churches in North America is that somehow we’ve elevated image, success, and stuff and labeled it branding and relevancy

the STATE of churches in North America is that we don’t like to share

the STATE of churches in North America is that we pay more attention to the celebrity pastors, leaders, and worship leaders instead of the faithful servants in our own congregation that have been mentoring and encouraging other jesus followers for years

 

Tonight I was part of something that goes against the grain of the STATE of churches in North America.  I spent this evening praying that God would UNITE us in our desire to see the name of Jesus made famous in our city.  I’m part of a project called Worship Victoria.  It’s a simple name and we have a simple purpose.  It’s a bunch of worship leaders coming together to record our songs, a picture of the worship happening in each one of the churches that we represent, for the purpose of raising money for a youth drop-in centre in downtown Victoria.  We have a heart for our city and we desire to see God do amazing things in our city.

This week we’re starting to rehearse before we hit the studio to record this album together.  We kicked off the process of preparing for this album by praying together.  We’re putting egos aside, we’re sharing ideas and colaborating creatively.  We’re coming together to worship.  Pentecostals, Baptists, Non-Denoms, Anglicans, you name it.  We’re all uniting together to lift up the name of Jesus.

I think something amazing is about to happen.

 

Where do you need to go against the grain?  Do you need to make a phone call this week to take another pastor out for lunch?  Do it.

The Cloud

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“…and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.” – 2 Chronicles 5:14

Have you ever been in a situation where you can identify with that passage?  Let’s put it in our context.  Imagine you’re leading worship and suddenly your voice just stops working, your hands start shaking, your band behind you stops in their tracks.

And everyone in the room can feel it.  They can sense it.

God.  Is.  Here.

Last week I was talking about a dream I have.  A dream to see what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 14 become a reality in my church, every week.

This past Sunday I had a glimpse of one of those moments.  We were closing off our service with Christ Is Risen.  Our pastor had just challenged us to live fearlessly for Jesus.  Our church loves that song and they almost always sing it loud.  But this Sunday something was different.  I looked around and the people that usually aren’t singing were singing along.  We believed it.  We proclaimed it.  And God’s presence was there!  When we came to the first chorus I had to back away from the mic, because as I looked out at my church as they sang that song, I started to cry.

So this verse caught me today as I was just reading in 2 Chronicles.  I follow the 2 year reading plan found in Life Journals.  I had no idea that God was going to use a short verse in 2 Chronicles (of all places) to speak to me today.  God’s Word is so good.

Let’s keep dreaming together