I’ve had 3 songs on NoiseTrade for a while now, all of them really rough recordings. They were either live, one track recordings, or were recorded with the built-in mic on my Macbook. Not good!
For STL FamilyCamp this year, our genius brother and fellow board member Marc Sikma had the brilliant idea of sending out some of the songs that we’ll be singing there to everyone ahead of time so that when a group of people from different churches come together, we’ll have at least 6 songs that everyone knows and will be ready to sing together.
So, I threw down acoustic versions of As the Angels Sing and Grace Upon Grace to put on that CD. I also went ahead and updated my NoiseTrade Widget with those versions, so if you grabbed them previously, you might want to update, since those previous versions were pretty shabby. I didn’t use a great vocal mic this time either cuz I was in a hurry, but it’s def better than the Macbook built-in! Not much post-editing either, since Marc was waitin on me to send the CDs out.
Anyway, if you want to check em out, hit the NoiseTrade widget on the left of my blog.

This is what the musicians have begun to strive for at Peine Ridge Church in order help us to better serve together in a way that reflects the character of Jesus.
If you’re involved in leading musical worship at your church, this might be helpful for you.
If you’re not a musician, it might help you to appreciate more the musicians at your church and the 8+ hrs. they put in each week as they serve the Church!
This isn’t intended to be a comprehensive list, but the hope is that by laying a Biblical foundation for how we relate to one another, and providing a few concrete examples to get us started on the right track, by God’s grace we’ll begin to grow in the practice of these and the specifics will flesh themselves out.

Guiding Principles:
1. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, rather, seek to honor each other. (Philippians 2:3, Romans 12:10)
We are never to have a competitive attitude. We have been given the privilege of serving the Church, and one another as members of the Body. We should always be looking for opportunities to speak highly of each other to other people.

2. In humility count others more significant than yourself. (Philippians 2:3)
We should have the attitude that each other member is more important than we are, regardless of their level of musical ability. The world judges people solely on talent or ability, but God values people differently than the world does, and He may- and often will for the sake of His glory- use those who are less skilled to minister to the Body in ways that more skilled individuals never will.
-Musically, this principle should lead us to understand that we should each consider that at any given point in a song, our instrumental or vocal part may need to stop or lessen so that another, “more significant” part can come through. We should always be looking to make room, musically, for others to be noticed. To put it even more specifically, this means that most of us will not need to play on every beat, or sing every note of every song. Remember, we lead as much by our attitude of servanthood, our worshipful posture, and our humble hearts as we do by our musical ability.

3. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4)
This simply means that we should constantly be seeking out opportunities to serve one another.
-Practically, this means that if you have fulfilled all your own responsibilities in setup or teardown [see below] and others have not finished yet, you should take that opportunity to serve them by offering to help them. Or, it might mean you arrive early to help someone who has a lot of equipment [e.g., drummers] carry their gear in, or that you stay later and help until everyone has their equipment torn down. In other words, everyone is responsible for themself, but we are also all responsible for one another.

4. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace. (1 Peter 4:10)
We have been given gifts and talents in order to serve the church, not in order to gain recognition for ourselves. If we find ourselves using our gifts for any purpose other than serving others, for the glory of God, we are mishandling the grace that God has given to us to steward.

5. Handle conflict with humility, gentleness, honesty, and forthrightness, in a way that reflects the character of Christ, exalts the name of Christ, and demonstrates a growing awareness of the grace that God has shown to us. (Colossians 3:8-15)

Specific Expectations & Responsibilities:
As a servant in the area of leading musical worship at Peine Ridge Church, you will be expected to:
A. Come to every rehearsal knowing the music.
-Don’t plan on learning the music at practice. For the sake of respecting everyone’s time, we will typically run through each song only one time.
-Don’t expect to run through all songs again on Sunday morning. That time is for soundcheck and running over any transitions that need refreshing, not necessarily whole songs.
-If you need mp3s or a CD of the songs, purchase the songs if at all possible. This will never amount to more than a few dollars on a given week. If that is not possible, let me know and I will help you to get a CD of the songs.
- Print your own music off if you need it. Again, if this isn’t possible for you, let me know in a timely fashion and I’ll try to help you out.
- Learn new songs even on the weeks that you are not playing or singing. This will make for much more efficient practices. At the very least, you should go on the Planning Center website and listen to any new songs that you see for each week.
- Know the lyrics of every song well enough that you can sing or play it with true conviction and understanding, so as to effectively and actively take part in ministering the Word to the Church.
(NOTE: All songs with available mp3s and charts will be posted on the planning center website. If you have any questions finding those, or about navigating the site in general, please ask for help)
B. Be cheerfully flexible. Keys will often change, songs will sometimes be cut or replaced. (Philippians 2:14)
C. Respect one another by arriving at practice and soundcheck in time to set up and be ready by designated start times.
D. Set up all equipment directly used by you at practice or on Sunday.
- specifically, as a vocalist or band member you are responsible for at least:
1. locating, unpacking and setting up your own monitor
2. running mic and power cables to your own monitor
3. setting up a mic and mic stand or setting up your own instrument(s)/DI
4. running a cable from the mic(s) or DI to the correct channel on the snake
E. Tear down and pack up all equipment directly used by you.
- specifically, as a vocalist or band member you are responsible for at least:
1. tearing down and properly rolling all cables you used, including monitor cables
2. packing up your mic or DI and mic stand in the correct place and placing them in the correct cart
3. packing up your own monitor properly and placing it in the correct cart
(NOTE: If you are unsure of how to set up or tear down equipment, you have the responsibility to ASK someone who does know.)
F. Seek to serve one another, and to bear one another’s burdens. Literally. (see guiding principle #3)
G. Pray for your fellow musicians at Peine Ridge Church regularly.
- Pray that they will be given the grace and the power of the Holy Spirit to effectively fight the pride that all those who serve in more “visible” roles in the Church struggle with.
H. Make it known in a timely manner if you will be unavailable on a certain week.
-Better yet, use the “block out dates” feature on the planning center to do this. It is extremely helpful and time-saving in the scheduling process. If you’re not sure how to do that, watch an online tutorial or ask someone for help. This will help not only with scheduling musicians on a good rotation, but will also help to avoid creating scheduling conflicts with other ministries such as Peine Kids or setup team.

Since most of the practical benefits of church membership seem to be available to those who might be termed “regular attenders”, especially those who are very involved in what the church is doing (serving on a team, part of a small group, etc…), what is the point of having a formal, covenant church membership?
The covenant is the main point. For an illustration of this, think of marriage. A couple that is “just living together” might appear to have all the practical benefits of marriage, but that relationship is lacking the solemn, public commitment to one another before God and other people that a marriage covenant entails. A new family is being formed as covenant vows are made during a marriage ceremony, not a biological family, but a covenant-based family.
The same is true of the Church, which is the new family of all who are Christians (Mark 3:32-35). It is a family that has been formed and made possible by the covenant promises that God has made to us through Jesus Christ. It is a covenant-based, covenant-created family. So, the primary reason for joining yourself to the church in covenant membership is that covenant church membership puts the glory of the covenant love of Christ for His people on display.  We see this in John 13:34 where Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Simply put, these verses mean that the Church is supposed to define God’s love for the world. When people outside the church look at the church, they should see a very clear picture of God’s love on display. Since God’s love for us is a covenantal love, we define that love most accurately to the world by loving one another with a covenantal love.
Displaying the glorious beauty of God’s patient, committed, never-ending, firm, gentle, strong, and costly covenant love; this is what church membership is all about!

The following quote was written in reference to preachers, but is true for all who read the Bible with any hope of understanding and gaining from it.

“For a man solemnly to undertake the interpretation of  Scripture without invocation of God, to be taught and instructed by His Spirit, is a high provocation of Him; nor shall I expect the discovery of truth from anyone who thus proudly engages in a work so much above his ability”
- John Owen

Bible study is not magic. There is no guarantee that hours of reading and studying will bring you into a closer relationship with God. Thousands of scholars have studied the Bible for a lifetime with no positive impact on their souls.
However, it is guaranteed that you will not be brought into a closer relationship with God apart from the reading and study of God’s Word. The difference is the Holy Spirit. Rely on Him through prayer as you read and study, because only His wisdom will suffice. Ask Him for understanding and application and He may give you that grace. To declare Truth is why He has come. (John 16:13)

If you’ve ever asked the question “What does my pastor do all day?”, this is what he’s doing (or should be). If you’re a Christian, and not a pastor, this may may help you to pray for, encourage, and have healthy expectations for your pastors.
If you are a pastor and you’ve ever asked the question “What did I do all day?”, this may help you at least answer as to what you (we) should be doing all day.

According to the German Reformation pastor Martin Bucer (1491-1551), the task of a pastor is the true care of souls.  He finds this stated throughout Scripture, and draws a brief, helpful summary from Ezekiel 34:16, which says “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over and shepherd with justice.” Within this passage, he finds the five main tasks required of pastors. The following is quoted from Bucer’s book “Concerning the True Care of Souls”.
The Five Main tasks of the care of souls.
First: to lead to Christ our Lord and into his communion those who are still estranged from him, whether through carnal excess or false worship.
Secondly: to restore those who had once been brought to Christ and into his church, but have been drawn away again through the affairs of the flesh or false doctrine
Thirdly: to assist in the true reformation of those who while remaining in the church of Christ have grievously fallen and sinned.
Fourthly: to re-establish in true Christian strength and health those who, while persevering in the fellowship of Christ and not doing anything particularly or grossly wrong, have become somewhat feeble and sick in the Christian life.
Fifthly: to protect from all offence and falling away and and continually encouraging in all good things those who stay with the flock and in Christ’s sheep-pen without grievously sinning or becoming weak and sick in their Christian walk.
End quote.

May God adjust our expectations for pastoral ministry according to His Word, not according to cultural norms and expectations!