Raspberry Jam on Toast

Summer Academy 2009

2009-08-27T20:16:00.003+01:00

I can't feel my legs, I've had a toy car thrown at my head, I've been street dancing and taken some serious beatings on my stomach from a wooden spatula. Have I been incarcerated? No - just doing this years summer academy :)

It has been an excellent week so far and the best is yet to come I am sure. We have one final day of rehearsals before our final gig on Saturday night. It promises to be amazing and if you find yourself in Portsmouth on that night, pop in and see loads of young people showcasing how incredible they are!

I love just hanging out with the young people for an extended period of time. While the point of the HOPE academy is to encourage and build up the young people sometimes I worry that I am not 'teaching' the young people enough stuff. I.e. they will not be professional DJ's or sound engineers when they have finished. However one thing I realised today was that actually young people learn a lot and get a lot of value from just being given the chance to have a go at something. The opportunity to play on a big stage, have a go at being a lighting engineer, get the chance to mix some vinyl. Encouraging them in that way is something that cannot be matched.

So Saturday is going to be a brilliant night. I just hope I'm going to be able to stay awake long enough to enjoy it!

The Dizzying Heights

2009-07-30T13:44:00.003+01:00

I am having a great time leading kids into worship at New Wine this week. In Rock Solid we always start and end each meeting together singing our 'Anthem'. In previous years this has been that great song 'Shackles' by Mary, Mary. However this year, the team decided that we needed something different (as that had been used for the past three years) and they asked me to come up with something. Something 'worshipful', 'fun' and fits in with the theme this year of High School Musical.

Hmmmm.

Well, I had a go and so far the kids seem to really enjoy singing it. It has also just been aired on New Wine FM. Oh the dizzying heights... I'm not actually sure if anyone listens to New Wine FM being that it only broadcasts to the conference but a good thing none the less!

For those who are really interested you can catch a listen to this rocking tune by clicking here!

Silence

2009-07-28T14:43:00.005+01:00

Here at New Wine it is pretty darn noisey. There are roughly ten venues, all equipped with enough PA to do some serious damage and there is rarely a time when they are not pumping something out. I'm someone who gets very easily distracted by anything of a musical nature and so having all this noise around can be quite unhelpful!

Today however is the 'day off'. No morning meetings - but a chance to get out of the site and find some space. I went and ran a few errands and then had lunch in the quietest country pub the west country has ever seen. It was excellent.

I've been thinking recently how much I need to get some silence back into my life. To get some time to hear God clearly without distractions of the world clouding in. It has certainly helped today!

New Wine Day 2

2009-07-23T07:23:00.003+01:00

Day 2 of New Wine... I and a small team area leading worship in Rock Solid which is for 8-9 year olds and it is incredible fun. Kids of this age are so much fun and they show so much genuine, un-filtered passion for God and it is a pleasure to lead them into worship.

I also got the chance today to meet up with lots of other worship leaders and musicians in the FUSE networking session. I was reminded just how difficult it can be sometimes to lead worship in local church and it was great to be able to encourage others to keep going and that they are doing something incredibly powerful each time they step out and serve by leading others into God's presence with music.

At large conferences you can often get the impression that you are only a good worship leader / church leader / any kind of leader if you are leading thousands or doing something on a big platform worldwide. But I feel that God really needs excellent leaders to be committed to being local leaders. Our churches would wither and die if we were all jetting off around the world speaking at this conference or that. Our church really need amazing leaders who are not simply doing it in the hope of a 'big break'. It is a really tough thing to do - as it seems so appealing to be able to lead a large number of people.

Our eyes have to be fixed on God however. It is for His approval and recognition we must strive for rather than the so-called recognition of the world and it's people.

New Wine 2009

2009-07-18T23:12:00.003+01:00

I've been going to New Wine for three years now and this year will be the 2nd year where I'll be leading some worship at the Rock Solid venue for the 8-9 year olds. It is always great fun and I feel really privileged to be a part of it. This year I want to try and build on the stuff God is teaching me at the moment - like aiming to be the least and serving with everything I am.

I am wife and child-less this year - so I intend to get to as many seminars as I can and keep up the good blogging action. It is starting to seem that when I am doing some blogging it is when I am making time for God to speak into me. So I will try and keep it up.

I have a large list of things to arrange before I go - so I'd better get on it really!

Being the least

2009-07-08T23:48:00.006+01:00

Our pastor got my thinking about an interesting point the other day. He was focussing on our destiny and our purpose and drew into his thinking the story of John the Baptist. Anyhow, it got me looking at it in a bit more detail and some stuff really hit me that I had never fully appreciated before.

After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. (This was before John was put in prison.) An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him."
To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.' The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.

So firstly John the Baptist suffered from what most church leaders perhaps suffer from at some point. The "look at that church over there" syndrome. John's followers were basically saying that Jesus' church was doing much better than their church and that John should think of a strategy to win back some of his followers.

John's response is staggering. "He must become greater; I must become less". He is basically saying that he was put on this earth to become less. I don't know about you but when I think about the things I do I dream about them becoming big. I dream about them becoming more influential, more productive, more connected, more respected. I don't for one minute hope and pray that God would make the things I do 'less' - even if it is for the gain of someone else. But as John so astutely puts it "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven". Well said.

This really challenges me therefore - because while my desire to see the things I do have some success and prosperity, am I doing that so that people won't think I'm a worthless idiot? Am I doing it simply to feel good in myself? Or am I really doing it because that is what God is saying?

I've thought for a long time that, with particular reference to my worship leading / song-writing that God was in fact calling me to be small in it - i.e. not to have ambition for platinum selling albums or Christian fame and respect. But to be the best worship leader I could be for the sake of the tens / hundreds of people in the area I live and the people in our church. And to not only do that but to do that with everything I have, being satisfied with the fact that I am doing God's will - not selling loads of albums. I believe I am a good worship leader - whatever that means - and God needs those in the small churches and areas just He does in the big ones.

God help me to treat your opinion higher than my opinion, or others opinion of me. That way, surely I'll just get on doing what you want me to do.

I want to blog more!

2009-06-25T09:03:00.002+01:00

I like blogging. I like reading blogs too - but for some reason I just haven't found the time or the energy over the past year. I have no idea really why - except to say that I find it really helpful sometimes to get some thoughts down. A blog is a great outlet for this - and quite fun to read back too.

So, I'm going to try and get back into the swing of things here. One a week say. How hard can that be??

Two weeks until the Summer Academy!

2008-08-14T11:55:00.004+01:00

So it seems to be the season we are in that it is two weeks until everything is going on at the moment. Two weeks ago I was at New Wine helping lead 600 8-9 year olds into worship - it was really knackering but a superb week. The highlight for me was seeing over 200 of them line up around the venue to share what God was saying to them - I was quite blown away by what God was doing in them.

The band did great as well and it was a pleasure to hang out during the rest of the time with them. God was working in us to and it was great to be able to use something God given to benefit these young people.

Then I went on holiday to Wales with my family which was cool but was feeling a bit unwell during the week which culminated when I got back with me needing to stay in bed for a day or two. Still, fighting fit now and back in the game.

And so two weeks (well less now!) until the Summer Academy starts. This is a week long academy I am running as part of my music mentoring that is going to see nearly 40 young people doing creative things dance, singing, band stuff, video, graphics, DJ'ing and techy stuff culminating in a big gig at the end of the week for parents and friends to see what they've been up to.

Still much to do, but I can't wait. It is gonna be awesome to be able to see these young people be encouraged to use what God has given them - even if they don't realise it was God who gave it to them in the first place!

New Wine in two weeks...

2008-07-12T19:00:00.003+01:00

This year myself and a team of 4 others are leading some of the worship at the Rock Solid venue at the New Wine summer conference. It is going to be a superb time and I feel privileged to be part of it. Today we had a training day in preparation for it and it reminded me of what an important thing it is to minister to kids and to teach them about Jesus.

I have spoken to people before who can be a bit derogatory about being involved in 'kids' ministry - as surely 'it doesn't really matter' and 'unless you are not doing something in the main venues then it doesn't really count'. I was reminded today just much I disagree with that! In a world that says that if you do anything on a small scale you are not a success, or if you are working with people who have no influence or power then it is not worth doing I am convinced that God works in the complete opposite way.

I personally think that kids need teaching and worship that is as excellent as it can be - perhaps even better than what you find in one of the main venues at an event like New Wine! I think the local church needs to be raising the bar in terms of what it does and how it does it, not just with worship, but all aspects because the people who it ministers to matter. It is certainly my heart to be leading really excellent, spirit filled times of corporate worship not because one day I'll lead worship in 'somewhere that matters' in an earthly sense - but because every time I lead worship I am already leading in a place that matters dearly to God and His Kingdom.

So less than two weeks to go - still so much to do! Better stop writing posts and crack on.... :)

Some Things Are Never Simple

2008-06-15T08:02:00.003+01:00

We live in an area of Portsmouth which has quite a close-nit community - lots of people know each other and hang out together and I think that has both positive and negative effects on the community as a whole. The other day a neighbour of ours asked to borrow something of ours and we naturally said yes but when it was returned to us we noticed that it was completely broken.

Typical - you try and do a nice thing, yet something like this happens and it plops you into a sticky predicament. The mentality of a lot of people in Portsmouth would be to handle this situation by going round and starting an argument about it - probably demanding some money for a replacement. Now I don't believe that is the way God would handle the situation where He here with me but at the same time I don't think that God calls Christians to simply be a walk-over and ignore things that matter to us. Yet the passage where Jesus tells us to 'turn the other cheek' does also make me wonder where the right path lies (although that same passage also says to not refuse people who want to borrow from you!)

It is a common battle I find myself in - I want to stand up for God and be different in my thinking and in my actions - but yet it seems difficult to find the narrow path of what is going to demonstrate that Christians are not afraid to stand up and talk about things but at the same time talk about things in a productive way that enhances a relationship rather than destroy it.

So I did go back round to have a chat - I figured I'd take the approach of 'just wondered if you had noticed that it doesn't work any more and if you knew what had happened to it'. Sadly they weren't in - so i'll have to go back another time. At the end of the day, our relationships with our neighbours is more important than the broken utensil and so I won't demand any money off of them. But I still find it hard to talk about things like this without coming off as being confrontational and shirty.

Learning to Fly on iTunes!

2008-06-10T13:39:00.004+01:00

Just in case you were interested...

I recorded a couple of CD's back in 2003 and 2005 and the latest of which is now available on iTunes to download. This is quite cool - as this is something that is normally quite difficult to achieve if you are an independent artist as I am. However, the nice folks over at TuneCore which certainly help you out there.

I think I was kinda bullied into putting them up there by my good friend Rob :). But I figure that whilst I feel they have served the purpose of writing and recording them here at Kings in Portsmouth it doesn't harm anyone to put them out there for anyone who stumbles across them!

So, if you want to get it on iTunes you can do so by searching for 'Gareth Matthews' or by clicking this link here.

A 268 Generation

2008-06-10T13:14:00.006+01:00

Last Thursday I travelled up to London to go to the first Passion event in London. If you have never heard of it this is a movement in the USA that seeks to inspire students to live after God and encourage them in that. Now technically (well, actually entirely) I am not a student, but I can drive a minibus and so I was roped in to go - and I'm glad I did.

So the event kicks off in the Hammersmith Apollo with Chris Tomlin and his band pumping out some worship, Matt Redman leads a few songs a bit later, the David Crowder Band pumped out some tunes and Louie Giglio spoke. It was extremely well put together and I really enjoyed everything they did - and you could really sense the heart behind it. Sometimes the worship felt quite showy - especially from Mr Tomlin as I feel strongly that worship is not simply a performance. However, in a sense, the entire crowd was really up for worship - so perhaps not much leading was really needed!

The highlight for me (which is kind of odd as a musician and worship leader) was Louie's talk. Blymey, that man has a stunning way of communicating the Gospel and inspiring people to hunt after that. The Passion movement is based on Isaiah 26:8 - which talks about God's name and His renown being the desires of our hearts, or as he put it 'wanting to make God famous'. This is something that has been really on my heart as late as I really desire to be someone who shines Jesus through everything I do.

I think my problem is that sometimes I get so caught up in being normal and relevant - all good things that Christians should be - that I forgot that we actually need to stick out and be different. To be 'in the world and not of the world'. I was very inspired to turn this around and start making an effort to stick out in the things I do, the things I say and the way I live. That doesn't mean that I am going to go completely into wierdo mode - but perhaps I may not be afraid to talk about Jesus and allow Him to shine through what I do and the way I live.

I have an excellent CD from the Revelation Warehouse that was released back in 2001 called Biography that was recorded at a time when things in the 247 prayer movement were really kicking off. There is an amazing part of that CD which never fails to move me when someone prays 'God we are so sorry when we don't look any different from the world'. That is my prayer today and something I want to change!

O or Oh?

2008-04-01T10:21:00.003+01:00

Man it has been a long time - I nearly forgot the password to this blog. Shocking. Consider my knuckles rapped and back in the game...

So I was going through my normal routine of choosing some songs for this coming Sunday at Kings and as I was perusing a list of songs something jumped out at me. There are quite a few songs that start with the word 'Oh' - Oh Happy Day or Oh Lord I am devoted to you for example, but then there are also quite a few songs that start with the word 'O'. Hmmm I thought, perhaps the 'O' should be an 'Oh' and I just typed the song title in wrongly. But no, if you google for example Matt Redman's O Sacred King or the traditional O Lord my God when I in awesome wonder (How great thou art), you'll see it is definitely an 'O'.

Now I am no English scholar, I think the apostrophe looks pretty and should be used wherever possible. But what is the difference between 'O' and 'Oh'? Is this some deep dark secret about the English language that I've missed?? More to the point should I be using more 'O'ing in my songs? Deep theological questions...

Perhaps I should email Redman and ask him why he used an 'O' instead of an 'Oh'. To be honest, when I look at the lyrics of songs that use either I have to wonder why the word is there at all - I mean, it doesn't really mean much or add much to the line - apart from make it fall under the meter a little better. Anyhow - it is all good - but if anyone out there has any hard and fast rules about when to use 'O' and when to use 'Oh' I'd certainly like to hear it :)

Anyway, this brings me on to my next topic of my new song: 'Oooooooooooooo Lord you are a legend'. What a catchy title. More about this soon.....

Mercy me

2008-01-24T08:22:00.000Z

If you have never heard any music by the band Mercy Me then you should make a special effort to check them out. They are an American Christian band who have been around for many years and every time I hear their music it blows me away a little. They are a bunch of pretty down to earth guys who are talented musicians - but what I love is the way they express what they are trying to say in a song. They sing about things in ways that I'd never think of - and it takes me aback when I hear a new song they have written. They are a worship band primarily, but not the type of worship you'd sing in church (although they did write I can only imagine - which is sang a lot these days).

Such an occasion happened yesterday when I googled them and spotted one of their videos on YouTube. Fantastic song and quite a cool video too. And once again, the lyrics blew me away. Check it out...

Christian Success

2008-01-21T22:05:00.000Z

I was really encouraged by a quality blog and preach I heard on WorshipMatters.com. The post was talking about whose glory we make music for. So often it can be really easy to get bogged down with the feeling that what we do has little significance when it comes to the bigger picture - yet we look around and can find a hundred Christians, especially worship leaders who seem to be blessing thousands with their ministries.

Yet this post reminded me that we cannot measure success in the way the world measures success. As Christians we should use God's measuring 'rod' as our measure - and actually that is all the counts. It also reminded me that perhaps when I feel that I am unsuccessful, perhaps I am being a glory-hunter rather than a glory-projector.

I am often reminded that while it is awesome that we have stacks of inspirational worship leaders and song-writers out there, the place they are greatly needed is in the local church. It may seem that we are leading worship week after week to a handful of people, but yet our local churches need quality, God-fearing worship leaders. It may seem that any songs we write only get heard by the small number of people in our church, but our local churches need quality, God-inspired songs to help express where the church is at in that time.

I have an incling that if we even remotely understood this stuff - wait, scratch that, if I remotely understood and grasped this stuff it would put into perspective what I do and why I do it so much more. My heart deep down is to be a glory-proector - why do I forget this so easily? Lord, give me Your understanding on this!

New Generation Music

2008-01-21T21:32:00.000Z

I am currently starting up a project which I loosely call 'music mentoring'. In the area of Portsmouth where I live and work, there is a great need for positive role models, self-esteem and a sense of purpose. I believe I have this through knowing the greatest role model that ever lived (Jesus Christ) and part of the reason I am made like I am is to pass some of that on to others.

So music mentoring is taking music and using that as a tool to instil a sense of vision and purpose into the lives of local young people. I am just starting out - and while I'm struggling with limited resources I see real potential in the idea and believe God is calling me to invest more of my time into it.

So I was really encouraged today when I looked at the website of NGM based in Bristol. Run by Ray and Nancy Goudie they have a similar vision and passion but are much further down the line than I am. Man it is inspiring to actually see a vision I have already in action somewhere else. It encourages me to think that perhaps one day, the teeny music mentoring project we have down here could be impacting as many young people as they do. What a transformation it could bring to this run down area of Portsmouth.

Where have all the chords gone?

2007-12-22T12:07:00.001Z

I love Christian Worship music. Not only is it the most important type of music that is made (note: type, not style!) but it is something that I really connect with and that in turn helps me express worship to my Father in Heaven.

However, I do get increasingly frustrated at the number of worship songs there are out there - and especially new worship songs - that are still using the same chords as all the others. For me as a creative chap it really gets in my way as it comes across as lazy and of the attitude of 'I know this works, so I'll just do it again'. Harsh? Possibly.

Lets get technical for a minute and have me back this wild accusation up with some evidence here. The chord sequence that seems to be used the most in all Christian worship songs is the I, V, VIm IV chord sequence (i.e. the root chord, the 5th, the minor 6th and then the 4th chord). If you were in the key of G, this would translate to G, D, Em, C (or for a minor variation the V chord sometimes has the major 7 in the bass - i.e. G, D/F#, Em, C). If you are a guitar player, go get your guitar and play those chords and they will probably sound familiar. Why? Because they are so overused!

There may be some people out there who would suggest that in a worship song, the only thing of real importance in the lyric - as long as they are sound, then who cares what the music is doing as long as it is not distracting from the theologically correct words. There is some truth in this I'll admit - as a worship song with great music and poor words is not really going to serve any purpose expect to make 'Songs of Fellowship' Volume 97 slightly fatter. But I believe music is something that can engage not only our intellectual with the words, but also with our emotional through the music. A great worship song needs to be equally balanced with fine music and awe inspiring lyrics - and when this is executed by superb, God-fearing musicians then for me it allows me to do what Jesus intended us to do - and that is to worship God freely.

In everything I do at the moment, I am constantly reminded of this word excellence. I don't want to do anything half-heartedly but want everything to be the best it can be empowered by God. In the same way, when we write worship songs lets not settle for the same old chords, the same tired phrases but let us use the creativity God has placed within us to craft new sounds for God's glory.

Something big...

2007-12-10T20:36:00.000Z

I have quite a few American friends and for some reason I think they have the bizarre idea that I don't like their country and the things it stands for (it is probably because I make a lot of jokes like that - and we do seem to have a different sense of humour!)

It may therefore shock them to know that I love America! I have no idea really why and while I do not completely agree with some of its administrations actions on the world circuit it is a country that never ceases to fascinate and excite me. Call me a geek but I love learning stuff about the USA, I love looking at maps of it and I love the thought of going there (not that I get much chance)! I used to work for an American company and I loved connecting with people from the land 'across the pond'.

I think the thing that really blows my mind about the USA is the vastness of the country. The USA consists of fifty states and most of them are bigger than the UK. In England if you drive for 6 hours or so in any direction you have gone out of the country or hit the sea; over there, you can drive for days and days and you are still in the USA!

Deep within all of us there is a desire to know something that is larger than what we understand and feel comfortable with. Some people look at the universe and the expanse of space and get their mind blown at how minute we are. I simply look at a map of the USA! Through all of this and especially at Christmas time it makes me marvel at why God would be interested in little ole me - I mean on this scale, small isn't even in the right league to describe me! Yet God is interested in me and has a plan for my life.

Now that blows my mind.

The most important music

2007-12-10T17:47:00.000Z

I read something which struck me today. In the cover notes of Paul Baloche's album A Greater Song the president of Integrity music, Michael Coleman, has written an introduction to this CD (which is an excellent CD I might add). Something he said really hit me:

"There is one thing we do on earth that we will continue to do in Heaven. That is to praise and worship God. That is why we view life on earth, for those who live Jesus, as choir practise for Heaven. To say that praise and worship is the most important category of music is an understatement. In light of that fact, there is no more important activity of the human heart that to praise and worship God."

I often get quite bogged down with how many Christian worship leaders there are out there - wondering if in fact they are just doing it because they really just want to be a pop-star or in a famous band; there are so many worship songs out there - and I wonder if the authors of those songs are just doing it to be amongst the top Christian artists. And yet when I read the snippet above it makes me see that perhaps I am being overly cynical about the whole worship music movement.

Michael Coleman is right: there is no more important music than music that honours and worships God. So isn't it right then that there are stacks of people out there wanting to write Christian songs? And isn't it also right that there are stacks of bands out there wanting to play Christian music? The devil really has his way when it comes to music most of the time and it is about time we stood up to that and used this most powerful tool even more to praise and worship our God in heaven.

Yes of course - if you write or play Christian music then do it with the heart that wants God to be lifted up more than anything else. But shouldn't people like me be encouraging others more to get out there and lift up the name of the Lord with music? I think I should. I think I should be flexing my writing muscle even more. So what if there are a million others doing it - the most important music on earth is music that lifts God up and if I can contribute to that and get in on that, even in a small way, then I want in.

I've actually got a couple of songs on the way that I've been working on. As soon as I get chance to whack them down, I'll pump them up here...

Me, myself and I?

2007-12-01T21:22:00.000Z

I've been married for nearly three and a half years and I am now a Father - which is all very cool. Call me a bit slow but with all the stuff that is going on in my life right now it is causing me to re-evaluate what life is all about - especially concerning me.

Just after I got married I got a bit of a culture shock. Perhaps I am not all there but after the honeymooning of marriage went it started to sink in that my life was no longer just my own any more. I was in fact part of a team now - and I had committed to that team for the rest of my life. Any decision I made, any money I spent, anything big I wanted to do in my life wasn't just my decision any more. And that scared me a touch. So now I have a child! And again, it hit me today that I now share everything I do with two people now. I can't just swan off and please myself - there are other lives at stake now.

As a Christian, this kind of living is not that unfamiliar to me. Jesus Himself instructed us to 'take up our cross and follow Him' - or in the Message translation:

"Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat—I am."

This is from Luke 9 and just stirs something within me. Often we'll spend our entire lives trying to make things happen, be a certain person, do a certain thing - but God simply tells us to forget about that for one moment, fix our attention on Him and He'll sort us out. I love wisdom like this - the complete opposite to what the world would say, but just crazy enough to work :).

Funnily enough I think I used to be better at putting other things in front of my own desires even before I was married. Perhaps I just got slack in my old age. But there are a few things I am very sure of. Firstly, God knows and God sees more than I ever will and I want to let Him do the leading; Second, I am seriously blessed with my wife and son; And thirdly, perhaps I need a gentle reminder that I am not the centre of my world - and if I was, it would be a pretty messed up one at that.

Daddy

2007-11-29T12:26:00.000Z

Well, if you are pregnant for nine months or so then sooner or later something kinda crazy is gonna kick off. And sure enough, last Monday my wife gave birth to our first son Ethan Joel Matthews. The labour was pretty intense and lasted for about three days and he had to be born by Caeserean Section but when he was born it was quite an incredible thing to see something that has been living inside your wife for nine months that you helped put there. There aren't a lot of words that can describe that.

And so the journey of parenthood begins. I'm pretty tired already, but can't wait to get to know him and find out what makes him tick.

A true miracle, and all praise to my Father in heaven for little Ethan.

The value of information

2007-11-22T07:12:00.001Z

I have to admit I've always found it a bit odd when people get shirty about people like the Police keeping information about us. There are many arguments for it and none of them seemed to make much sense to me - until the other day...

To be honest in that I never had a problem with people like the Police having information about me stored on their computers. It all seemed like a good idea to me - especially as I have nothing to hide. If the Police want my DNA on file it can clear me of being involved in crimes and work for my benefit. If all our DNA is stored on file then any crime can be easily solved right?

However my confidence in this argument has been significantly shaken over the recent controversy over CD's of peoples information being lost in the post. If you didn't spot this one in the news, someone from the child benefit agency copied the details of millions of peoples names, addresses and bank details onto a couple of CD's and sent it unrecorded in the mail. The CD's got lost, they were not encrypted and the data could quite possibly end up in the wrong hands. I say possibly of course because no one currently knows where they are. Oops. In fact - very big oops.

It makes me think that even though organisations like the Government and the Police strive to be careful with sensitive information, they make mistakes - and in this case a very serious one. And when they do the information that we've been so happy to give over to them may end up in the wrong hands - which is exactly what we do not want. I trust the Government and the police - I don't think a day is coming when someone evil at the head of either of those organisations is going to start meddling in my personal information for evil purposes. However, I am now slightly disturbed that other people may get in there and do the meddling for them if they can't keep a lid on the information I've been so eager to hand over.

I don't think this realisation is going to be a life-changer for me; I'm always careful with my personal details - but I think it has given me much more understanding as to why we need to be a little bit more careful about information about us and why just saying that because the organisation keeping the information can be trusted it still doesn't mean it is safe to let them have all my information.

Lovin' it

2007-11-19T08:33:00.000Z

My wife and I popped down to Gunwharf Quays on Saturday for the grand switching on of the Christmas lights. Well, it wasn't that grand and it wasn't that slick, but the lights did go on - and I suppose that is something. To be honest, that is not really why we went. A friend of mine who is the worship pastor at Family Church here in Portsmouth told me that their youth band was playing as part of the festivities and so we popped down to see what all the fuss was about.

Well, let's be honest - the youth band were definitely the best thing about the event - but that wasn't hard! The music they played was phat, busted style, Hillsongs worship music and was needed as it was absolutely freezing! The guys and girls who played made a good band - they worked well together, they knew their tunes and had a lot of confidence up there. The music wasn't all that slick - quite a few mistakes, but that actually didn't seem to matter.

The thing that I really took away from it was that everyone up there was having an absolutely brilliant time. They were passionate about what they were singing about and they were not afraid of showing the entire of Gunwharf Quays that they meant it. In a world where young people are often portrayed as being couch potatoes who don't really care about they world around them, these guys really broke the mould - in fact it the mould was in tatters on the floor by the end.

It reminded me of a blog post by a mate of mine on his site Three Days. He was trying to work out in his head why events like Soul Survivor was so popular with young people. His conclusion was passion - the people up front were passionate about Jesus and didn't mind anybody knowing it. And that is what these guys did. Certainly gave me as a worship leader something to think about...

Ordinary People

2007-11-16T09:18:00.000Z

The bible is rammed full of God using ordinary people to do absolutely extraordinary things. My wife and I watched the film 'Night at the Museum' the other night - and while not entirely my kind of film the main edge behind the story is that Larry, the main guy had the lost the belief that ordinary people could do extraordinary things - and of course, Hollywood helps him to overcome that.

I've been thinking recently about the whole being ordinary thing - especially in relation to being a worship leader. There are many worship leaders out there who we'd class as a bit extraordinary and are very well known and very well respected and I think that while that can be a great encouragement to many I can sometimes find it a bit of a discouragement as it serves as a reminder of the fact that many of us, me included are oh so ordinary. There does seem to be a stack of people out there who are hankering for that opportunity to become an extraordinary worship leader like Matt Redman or Paul Baloche, whose music is used as an aid to corporate worship throughout the world and get invited to lead at very large and very prestigious gatherings of God's people. It seems to boil down to the fact that a lot of people think that you are a good worship leader, or you have 'made it' if you have ascended to those dizzying heights.

This is all put into perspective for me when I hear someone like Matt Redman talk about things like this - because, from what I can see, the man does not ever view himself as a 'great' worship leader or someone who has 'made it'. For him it seems he is doing what God is allowing him and providing him opportunity to do and ensuring that his heart is right every step of the way. In a sense it must actually be really hard for people like him sometimes to be 'ordinary' with God as every time he leads worship there are probably 80,000 people in the congregation telling him he is not!

Again for me it comes down to heart: if your heart is to be the most prolific Christian songwriter the world has ever know and get as much international acclaim as your ego can muster then I don't really see much room for God to be glorified in that - as it is all about you. However, if your heart is to be someone who serves God in all they do and is happy and content to do the small things God has given you to do (as well as the huge) then that is where God can break in and make something extraordinary out of our ordinary.

I think for me that is where I need to keep my heart in check - as I sometimes can get on with the small things in the hope that God will lavish me with bigger things in the future. Man that attitude stinks! When did I get so important that God needs to do anything for me?! If we are truly people with a heart after God and a passion for His worship then it doesn't matter whether we are leading six people into worship or sixty thousand - God can use an ordinary heart like that for extraordinary things.

Money money money

2007-11-09T10:36:00.001Z

There is a lot of stuff going on in the world at the moment to do with money. Oil prices are high, the dollar is plummeting, fear over banks' ability to lend money and oh yeah, me and my wife seem to be a little short of it too.

I don't really have a proper job anymore - I do some hours for my church and I'm trying to set up the music mentoring project (which currently doesn't pay me). I was doing some freelance work for my brother-in-law, but business is tight and there is no work at the moment. So when I came to crunch the numbers on our outgoings I found we had a teeny weeny gap in what was coming in and what was going out.

Actually, it was quite a lot - and as I looked at the numbers my only thought was 'God, I am going to need a little help on this one.' Surprisingly, it didn't actually worry me at all - as I feel confident that God has put me in this place and if He wanted me to stay there, we'd need to have some money to keep it that way. So I was speaking to our church senior leadership team about this and we committed it to God in prayer.

About six hours later, I got a phone call from our church administrator saying that Sure Start (who use our church building in the week) have agreed to give me over a months paid work to make a CD for their Dad's Project that they run. I'm not kidding - literally 6 hours later. And who says God takes ages to answer prayer! I couldn't quite believe it. So not only has God provided for me and Marianne financially for the next few months but He has done it in a way that allows me to make music doing it! More than that - if this had come along at a time when business for my brother was good - I wouldn't have had time to do it.

There is nothing left to do here, but sit down, point to my forehead and say genius. God is the one who never lets us down and always knows what He is doing. Legend.

Madness

2007-10-31T21:43:00.000Z

Well as I am sure you'll have all noticed, tonight was Halloween. I don't know whether it is because we have just moved house to an area of Portsmouth called Somers Town which is more densely populated but we seemed to get stacks of kids coming to our door asking for sweets. They were all quite friendly though and when we explained that we were Christians and didn't celebrate Halloween by dressing up as witches and stuff they were pretty cool with that and didn't extend us the honour of going through with the 'trick' part of their plea.

It did strike me as odd though - as I was walking back home this evening - and passing many people dressed up as witches, vampires and other occult figures that there seems to be quite a lack of understanding about what they are doing. To me it is clear that the enemy is something that is as real as the hair on my head - and messing around with stuff like that is something that should not be taken lightly. I give them the advice I'd give anyone who is about to drink a bottle of engine oil - make sure you know what you are doing before you do that.

I guess that is it isn't it - if you don't think there is anything else out there - good or evil, then why bother worrying about it? After all - it is only a bit of fun right? Well, the greatest trick Satan ever pulled was to convince people that he didn't exist. I think it is about time people - more specifically the church - stood up and exposed him for who he is.

We'll Sing

2007-10-27T22:19:00.001+01:00

One of the things I really want to do on this blog is keep track of (and keep myself motivated to write) new songs that I am writing. The song here is one that I've been working on for a while and have finally got round to recording for my own records.

It is a song that came from my heart of wanting to express a little about what we do when we meet together and sing songs of worship. Often it can get overlooked as to why we sing at church - we just do it. I wanted to express here why I think it is important, why I do it and what I want to express to God when doing it.

I wanted to try and write something quite congregational here - as often my songs tend to be a little hard to sing. So we have some simple melodies and reasonably straightforward chords too.

Anyway, here is a recording of it - my first in Pro Tools (I am a die-hard Logic fan you see!) and it sounds OK - if a little tame and unadventurous. Plenty of time for that though...

Ramped

2007-10-23T11:38:00.000+01:00

So the busy weekend was certainly busy and I seem to have come down with something exotic (and quite phlegmy) - probably because I got quite tired! Never mind, would definitely do it again.

YouthQuake was a great laugh - the young people who came along certainly seemed to enjoy it and, although it is hard to tell, seemed to engage with lifting God up. There were some issues with the sound which made it quite hard to lead worship - and it reminds me of how cool it is to be able to lead regularly in a place where you have spent time getting things like foldback sorted out. But hey, it was still quite cool and it was a real honour to be able to worship with such a quality bunch of guys and girls. They are truly awesome.

Then a good wedding where I was leading the worship and then playing in the evening band. The service went a lot smoother than it could have done, as we had a limited amount of time to get ready and the happy couple seemed pleased so that was cool. The evening was also a great laugh - especially as the band was battling one of those 'play too loud and we'll shut the power off' level meter things that was built into the venue. The band always loves playing for my friends as they always have a good time - which is more of a witness to them than they probably realise.

Another plus was that my wife came back to our house (now that we have a kitchen) and I hadn't quite realised how much I have missed her.

So a more relaxing week (hopefully) of some DIY and other stuff. I am looking forward to a chilled out weekend this weekend. That is definitely long overdue...

Busy busy busy

2007-10-19T23:46:00.000+01:00

I got a busy weekend coming up...

Firstly tomorrow (Saturday), I am leading worship at an event in Winchester called YouthQuake. This is a workshop / worship event that happens in Winchester Cathedral every couple of years and is run by a old friend of mine. I absolutely love leading worship - especially when I get to play with my band of merry men and women, who are just excellent at what they do. All in all it promises to be a really cool day and I am praying that we can really connect with the young people there and lead them into a place of worship.

I always find it quite hard the week leading up to events such as this - I am so aware of things that can distract me from doing the job I feel called to do. The thing the devil wants is for me to be feeling guilty or distracted about something as I go into this and so when things have been tough this week it has been tough to look immediately to God rather than get annoyed...or worse :) My heart for this event is that we as a bunch of worshippers can really engage with these young people as this can often be difficult when we don't know them and they don't know us. Really I just want to see God move - and pray that I don't get in the way.

The business doesn't stop there though - oh no. We get back from Winchester late on Saturday night and then on Sunday I am leading worship for a friend who is getting married in London (in fact we have a practise for this tomorrow before we leave for Winchester). Then I have to play in the evening reception in a funk band I play in called the FreeStyle Funk Collective. All in all, should be a great weekend of playing - but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be ramped by the end of Sunday.

The best thing is that I get to see my wife on Sunday and I haven't seen her for a week while she has been staying with family due to a decorating situation here at home. All in all I am quite looking forward to this weekend...

The great british weather

2007-10-17T13:24:00.000+01:00

I'm an Englishman - born and bred - and one thing I've always noticed is the ability for English people to get the weather into every conversation. One of the top news stories at the moment is that is 20 years since the 'Great storm' of 1987 and it seems that we English just love to harp on about it.

This was brought home to me when I was having my haircut a few weeks ago. I go to this quality barbers in Fratton called 'Latif' who is from Uzbekistan but does a superb haircut. So as I was in the chair admiring his work a chap comes to the door, who must be a regular and greets Latif with a hearty British hello. Now Latif speaks good English, but he definitely prefers to get on with the job rather than make small talk. So after a quick hello with the man at the door silence falls on the barber shop. It was quiet for a good minute or two, so much so I thought the chap had gone until, low and behold, he launched into his 'catch all' conversation starter: "So how about this weather we are having at the moment eh?" Latif was fairly unimpressed and the chap then moved on, probably not quite understanding why the conversation didn't bloom into life at his mention of a few spots of rain.

The funny thing is, I do that too - especially with people who are not from this country - and I have no idea why. It seems to be built into my very core. 'If conversation dries up, talk about the weather' - what makes us like that?

Life is more than the weather people, it's about time we thought of something else to natter about :)

Uncle Gaz

2007-10-17T13:16:00.000+01:00

The last few months have been very odd for me as both my wife and her sister are pregnant - now that is some nice planning there. Well last night my sister-in-law gave birth to a healthy little girl called Ella May and apparently all doing well. Hugest congratulations go out to all three of them.

The crazy thing for me is that it now means that my wife is next. Uncle Gaz is feeling a bit odd right now as I've never been one of those before. Blymey, what is Daddy Gaz going to feel like??

Train me up scotty

2007-10-15T22:02:00.000+01:00

Tonight was the first night of worship training at Kings Church where I am the overall worship leader. We run these evenings as part of a 12 week course that allows people who have an interest in being part of the musical worship of our church to come along, learn about worship and have a go at playing with other people in the context of a contemporary worship band. We make people go through the worship training before we get them playing on a Sunday to ensure that the team is all on the same page spiritually and the music is kept to a high standard.

Tonight was the first session we had of this academic year and we had close to fifteen new people turn up which was awesome, if a little overwhelming when I have to try and coordinate all that. However, it actually turned out to go much better than I thought and the guys who came were really up for having a laugh as well as worshipping God.

People have often said to me that it is kinda harsh making people go through this to gain access to the worship team that plays on a Sunday. I just don't see it that way at all. First of all it is a huge responsibility to have any part in leading the most public regular meeting of any churches calendar and I think that requires we are 'selective' with who we put up there. Not to say we purposely exclude people, but we give time in allowing peoples attitudes and motives to come through, as those are more important than whether they know every Matt Redman song in the book. Second, I think that it allows us to really manage the quality of everything we do as a church. Often visitors come into church and are really put off with the fact that everything seems to be either stuck in the 1960's or is just really bad quality - like the microphones don't work, the preacher sounds so bored he is putting everyone to sleep and the man singing is really out of tune..... of course some sweeping generalisations there, but you get my point. I think that everything that is done in church should be done to the best possible standard and in a way that does not distract from the True and Living God - the reason why we are doing it in the first place.

And if that makes me harsh, then harsh me up baby.