1050 Worship at The Heights

05/08/11: How He Loves, With Everything, Mighty to Save, Out of the Depths

2011-05-09T11:55:00.001-07:00

How He Loves (John Mark McMillan)

David Crowder Music Video: Click Here

With Everything (Hillsong United)

Youtube Video: Click Here

Mighty to Save (Hillsong)

Youtube Video: Click Here

Out of the Depths (Logan Walter)

This one is on our new record, which is now available on iTunes: Click Here

Easter Sunday 2011

2011-04-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

Jesus Messiah (Chris Tomlin)

Youtube video: Click Here

Christ is Risen (Matt Maher)

Youtube video: Click Here

All We Have is Christ (Logan Walter)

This one is on our new record, which is now available on iTunes: Click Here

Jesus Paid it All (Passion)

Youtube: Click Here

01/09/11: 40 (U2), Mighty to Save, He is Exalted, Stronger, Christ is Risen, You are My King (Amazing Love)

2011-01-08T15:41:00.000-08:00

40 (U2)

Psalm 40

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
³ He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
and put their trust in him.

This song was written directly from Psalm 40, which Gary will be quoting in his sermon this Sunday. Click here to see a clip of U2 playing it at RedRocks back in the glory days. Then, click forward to about 3:45 to see Bono leading the "congregation" like a worship leader.

Mighty to Save

Our catalogue can be divided into three sections: originals, hymns, and familiar songs (leaving out, for the most part, the idea of playing new, unfamiliar songs that weren't written by someone in the band). "Mighty to Save" is at the top our "familiar" list. It is, by most accounts, the most sung worship song in the world today. And it's good to see a worship video with almost 10 million hits. 420 million more and we will have caught up with Justin Bieber. Click Here to view the video ("Mighty to Save", not "Baby ft. Ludacris")

He is Exalted

If you didn't grow up singing this song: 1. God has rescued you from a non-Christian background, or 2. You are young. Either way, you should be informed that "He is Exalted" was the hottest worship jam of 1992, and its lyrics are as simple, singable, biblical, and vertical as a song can get. Sorry Twila, but I set out to find the most dated, embarrassing video of this tune on YouTube, and I succeeded. Click Here and click forward to about 3:00

Stronger

I am amazed every time I see a live clip from the Hillsong conference in Australia. Like "Mighty to Save," this video has the propensity to throw its viewers into a state of worship, right there in front of the computer screen: Click here

Christ is Risen

I love it when this happens. I don't need to tell the story behind the song, because the songwriter has already done it for me. In this video, Matt Maher explains how this song was inspired by John Chrysostom's third century sermon, which details how "Christ used death to destroy death": Click Here

You are My King (Amazing Love)

Chris Tomlin led worship at my church's youth camp, when I was in high school, and I remember always showing up, anxious to hear what new songs Chris had written that year. He wrote songs like "Famous One" and "We Fall Down" while he was at our particular camp, so it was always a thrilling week, especially for the aspiring worship songwriters in the crowd. But Chris is a worship leader first, and a songwriter second. No matter how many new, fresh original songs he had up his sleeve, he always left room for the familiar.

By my senior year of high school, You are My King (Amazing Love) had run its course in youth groups across the country in much the same way that "Lord, I life your name on high" had done in the mid-90s. We hadn't sung it at our youth group for a couple of years, and Chris hadn't sung it at camp since I was a freshman. But one night, after all the new songs had been sung, and it was clear that the Spirit was still moving, Chris began singing this song.

It was like the place had been filled with a breath of fresh air.

Now, if we had been singing "Amazing Love" during the invitation, every night of camp, every year since the song was written (as many Churches did), it wouldn't have had the same impact on the room. But every once in a while, we need to be reminded of the songs that God used to draw us closer to Him at a former stage of life. My prayer is that God will press these lyrics upon your heart in a fresh way, as we sing them together tomorrow morning.

01/02/01: Our God, When Heaven Came Down, In Christ Alone, Holy Holy Holy, Share

2011-01-01T19:47:00.000-08:00

Our God (Chris Tomlin)

Click here to see a video of Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman telling the story behind this song.

When Heaven Came Down (Logan Walter)

I finally put the chords and lyrics to this song on YouTube. Click here to learn how to play it!

In Christ Alone (Keith Getty and Stuart Townend)

Click Here to read an interview with Keith Getty, in which he discusses the hard work of avoiding clichés in worship songwriting and explains how his melodies are influenced by Irish folk music

Holy Holy Holy (Words: Reginald Heber, Music: John B. Dykes)

Two centuries ago, most churches sang psalms straight from scripture with no two people in the room singing the same melody. According to most reports, congregational worship music across the world was uninspired and chaotic. Reginald Heber wrote this beautiful song to help his congregation sing passionately to their maker. Click here to read the entire hymn story

Share (Logan Walter)

We have four core values at The Heights: Worship, Grow, Serve, Share. In 2008-2009, we put a special emphasis on Serve, and I wrote "Call to Action" for our push to "not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:18). In 2010-2011, we are focussing on Share, and the church has been charged with the call to engage in spiritual conversations with strangers at least once per week. This may sound simple, but how often do we engage strangers in any kind of conversation whatsoever? The first week, I shared with my TV repairman, Julio. The second week, a pipe conveniently broke in our house, giving me the opportunity to share my faith with the plumber, Jesus. Ironically, he was not a church goer. The third week, I found myself in a predicament. We were in Houston, playing for a week long event at an all-Christian, conservative private school. Everyone was a Christian. No one was a stranger. It was hopeless. But on the last night of the event, the band decided to take a trip to Barnes & Noble, where I always hang out in the Christian Literature section. Come to think of it, the bible section probably wasn't the best place to look for a lost soul, but God made it happen.

The following is a summary of an hour long conversation I had with an Iranian man, named Hamed, who spotted me reading a Bible in B&N:

Hamed: "Are you Christian?"

Me: "Yes, are you?"

Hamed: "No."

Me (silent prayer): Thank You, Jesus (the carpenter)

Hamed: "My wife is a Christian. My kids go to Christian church. But I am Baha'i. Are you familiar with Baha'i?"

Me: "No, are you?"

Hamed: "Yes. I am Baha'i."

Me: "Ah yes."

Hamed: "I believe there are many paths to God. The Baha'i embrace all major world religions as Truth." (this was actually a twenty minute explanation. I just listened and learned and waited to ask the only question on my mind.)

Me: "Who do you say Jesus is?"

Hamed: "Oh, I love Jesus. Jesus is my prophet, Jesus is my lord."

Me: "What do you mean when you say that Jesus is your lord?"

Hamed: "Jesus is my lord, Budah is my lord, Mohammed is my lord. I have many lords."

Me: "But Christians believe that Jesus is God."

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Up to this point, Hamed had been talking 100 miles per hour with 100% conviction and an air of certainty about everything he was saying. But nobody had ever told him that Jesus is God. His wife claims to be a "Christian." His kids attend church on Sunday mornings. He, himself, attends every Christmas and Easter service with his family, yet the Divinity of Christ was a completely foreign concept to him.

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Hamed: (confused) "What do you mean 'Jesus is God'?"

Me: "I mean that Jesus was both fully man and fully God. If I had a Bible with me, I could show you several passages that point straight to Christ's divinity."

Hamed: "There's like a hundred Bibles right behind you."

Me: "Ah yes."

---------

I then pointed Hamed to John 1:1-14, which is the passage Neil McClendon will be preaching from in his sermon this Sunday at The Heights.

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Me: "See here it says 'in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God,' and then in verse 14 it says 'the Word became flesh," that's talking about Jesus. Jesus was the Word, and the Word was God. Then if you flip over a few pages to chapter 8, Jesus says in verse 58, 'before Abraham was, I AM.' And everybody in the crowd would've known that 'I AM' was the name God gave to Himself in the Old Testament. When Jesus says "I AM," He is claiming to be God.

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Hamed and I talked for another twenty minutes, then I went to his house and met his Christian wife, who was verbally abusive to their children (Hamed was clearly the more Christ-like parent). Hamed gave me several Baha'i books and wrote down my recommendations, before I said goodbye. And though he didn't convert to Christianity that night, a seed of truth was planted. That's what happens when we share our faith with others. We become seed planters. And, eventually, many of these seeds will grow and bear fruit. So "let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." We all have "seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of Grace and Truth" (John 1:14). So let us be witnesses to what we have seen. Let us be witnesses to the light (John 1:8).

Heights 10:50 Set Lists 10/24/10 - 12/26/10

2011-01-01T19:16:00.000-08:00

12/26: Combined service -

we played "Bread of Life" and "Jesus Paid it all" during the Lord's Supper

12/19

O Holy Night

The First Noel

Jesus, Your Name is God

----------------------

When Heaven Came Down

12/12/10:

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Jesus Messiah

Jesus, Your Name is God

Silent Night

---------------------

How Great is Our God

12/5

I can't remember?

11/28

Sometimes

Revelation Song

Awakening

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

---------------------

I Surrender all

Jesus Loves Me

11/21 (Brett and Emily Mills leading)

Here is Love

Stronger

How He Loves

Revelation Song

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A Mighty Fortress

11/14

Welcome Home

Facedown

He is Exalted

Holy is the Lord

11/7

O Come Let Us Adore Him

Christ is Risen

Stronger

If You Say Go

I Will Go (first and, perhaps, only time this new original song will be played)

10/31

Welcome Home

Jesus Messiah

Bread of Life

Call to Action

10/24

Praise to the Lord

How Deep the Father's Love

In Christ Alone

Holy Holy Holy

Heights 10:50 Set Lists 09/12/10 - 10/17/10

2010-10-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

I've taken some time away from this blog, but I wanted to give you an overview of the last six weeks, before continuing with my detailed blogging ways.

09/12/10

Awakening

In Christ Alone

Mighty to Save

Jesus Paid it All

09/19/10 (Branch Leading)

Marvelous Light

Glory to God

Victory

From the Inside Out

09/26/10: I particularly enjoyed this Sunday, as I was given the responsibility of taking the baton from the beginning and not handing it off until it was time for the sermon. This included: pre-service music, worship with children's choir, welcome, announcements, more worship, offering, special music, and handing off the baton. Quite enjoyable.

Ain't No Rock (with Children's choir)

O Praise Him

We Fall Down

Here I am to Worship

When Heaven Came Down

Simple Prayer (originally sung by my Father in his band Gabriel. It was "family emphasis" Sunday, so I showed a picture of my dad leading worship at Baylor, followed by a picture of myself leading worship on the exact same square foot of Baylor property twenty years later. I was literally following in his "footstep.")

10/03/10

Christ is Risen

How He Loves

Marvelous Light

Simple Prayer

10/10/10: Celebration Sunday! The congregation was really moving and grooving this morning. The youth were leading by example as nearly 2000 people followed along, doing the motions for "Joyful."

Let God Arise

Oh What a Joy

When Heaven Came Down

Sing Sing Sing

Joyful

10/17/10:

Awakening

Lead Me to the Cross

Share (New Dutton Song. First time ever played.)

09/05/10: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-09-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

God of this City (Bluetree)

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

My dear friend and accountability partner, Daniel Carson, was on one of his many trips around the world when he heard an unknown band called Bluetree playing a worship chorus that specifically asked God to move in their city of Belfast, Ireland. As the guitarist for Chris Tomlin, Daniel felt God leading him to tell his own band leader about this song.

A few days later, Daniel was back in the States and had me listening to "God of this City" on Bluetree's myspace page. There was something special about it, but I dismissed it in my own mind, as I wasn't sure how it could be used in a worship set. Later that day, we met with Chris for lunch at Chuy's in Austin and heard his own dream for the song. "This passion tour we're about to go on," Chris said. "We'll sing this song everywhere we go, asking God to bring revival in each city along the way."

Less than a year later, a new Passion album was released entitled - "Passion: God of this City." I'm thankful for people like Daniel and Chris who have a vision for worship beyond that of my own. At the Heights, we sing this song for the the greater Dallas area, for God desires to do greater things through us to reach our community, not just in service, but in our conversations, as I will explain through the lyrics of "Call to Action"...

Call to Action (Logan Walter)

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." Philemon 1:6

I wrote this song in response to our church's call to "serve" or "engage the community with our service." But this Sunday, Gary preached about a different way to "engage," as he taught from Philemon about how to "share" or "engage the community with our conversations." There's a line in this song that might seem inappropriate for a "share" Sunday. It reads:

It's not enough to testify with words

Reach out in love, and the message will be heard

And while it's true that I wrote these lyrics with "serve" in mind, I believe this line also applies to "share." How do we "reach out in love" when sharing with those around us? Through our words? Yes, but it's still "not enough to testify with words." When in conversation, our love for others must begin with a willingness to listen. Read this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer and consider the implications it has for "share":

The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists of listening to them. As love to God begins with listening to his Word, so the beginning of love for others is learning to listen to them. It can be greater service than speaking. There's an impatient, inattentive listening that despises, only waiting for a chance to speak. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Nothing But Your Blood (Matt Redman)

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13

We make the Lord's Supper available to the entire congregation every Sunday morning at the Heights during the 10:50 hour. And though I remind everyone about this sacrament at the beginning of each service, I rarely re-emphasize its importance during the worship set. But this Sunday, before singing this song of gratitude for Christ's blood, I felt led to share something I read in my Tim Keller bible study the previous week. The study is in outline form and addresses the question "How do we worship?" The first answer to this question comes from John 4:23 - we must worship "in Spirit and in Truth." I want you to read the outline for the second answer. Prayerfully consider point "d":

2. We must worship "in Word and Sacrament." Worship is not just a time of teaching and inspiration.

a) It is a re-enactment of our union with Christ through the Gospel.

b) God's unmerited grace comes to us as a word to believe not as a deed to be performed. Therefore every worship service consists of hearing God's word of grace followed by our response to it.

c) God's word is read and we respond with confession of sin. God's word is preached and we respond with song, or with an offering of our lives and substance.

d) But especially in the sacraments - in baptism and the Lord's Supper - we see the gospel re-enacted. The bread and wine are tokens of Jesus' self-offering on the cross, and we respond by giving ourselves to him as we partake of them.

e) in every case, the worship service is a covenant renewal ceremony, in which we renew and deepen our remembrance of what Jesus has done for us and of what we have promised Him.

Other songs from this Sunday:

Christ is Risen (Matt Maher) - see the 08/22 post for my thoughts about Matt Maher

"We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him." 1 Thes 4:14

Stronger (Hillsong) - see the 08/22 post for a video of this song

"The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him." Exodus 15:2

08/29/10: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-09-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

Wonderful Cross (Isaac Watts w/ chorus by Chris Tomlin)

"Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha)." John 19:17

Before singing this song on Sunday, I had the congregation read the following quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. As you read it, keep in mind that Bonhoeffer followed the call to "come and die" to the end, as he was imprisoned and killed by the Nazis for his beliefs during World War II.

"Cheap grace is the enemy of the church. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth... an intellectual assent to that idea is held to be itself sufficient to secure remission of sins. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance... grace without discipleship, grace without a cross... Costly grace is the gospel (of the church)... It is costly because it costs a man his life, and grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his son... it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God... When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die. That is why the rich young man was so loath to follow Jesus, for the cost of his following was the death of his will. In fact, every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and lusts."

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Come Thou Fount (Robert Robinson)

"O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago." Isaiah 25:1

The background for the next two songs can be found in a book called "101 Hymn Stories"

Robert Robinson was born of lowly parents in Swaffham, Norfolk, England, on September 27, 1735. His father died when Robert was eight, and at the age of fourteen he was sent by his mother to London to learn the barbering trade. Here for the next few years he was associated with a notorious gang of hoodlums and lived a debauched life. At the age of seventeen he attended a meeting where George Whitefield was preaching. Robinson and his friends went for the purpose of "scoffing at the poor, deluded Methodists." However, Whitefield's strong evangelistic preaching so impressed young Robinson that he was converted to Christ. Several years later he felt called to preach and entered the ministry of the Methodist Church. Subsequently, he left the Methodist Church when he moved to Cambridge and became a Baptist pastor. Here he became known as an able theologian through his writing of many theological works as well as several hymns.

This hymn text, written when Robinson was only twenty-three years of age, contains an interesting expression in the second stanza, "Here I raise mine Ebenezer - Hither by Thy help I'm come." This language is taken from 1 Samuel 7:12, where the Ebenezer is a symbol of God's faithfulness. An expression in the third verse, "Prone to wander - Lord, I feel it - Prone to leave the God I love," seems to have been prophetic of Robinson's later years, as once again his life became characterized by lapses into sin, unstableness, and an involvement with the doctrines of Unitarianism.

The story is told that Robinson was one day riding a stagecoach when he noticed a woman deeply engrossed with a hymn book. During an ensuing conversation the lady turned to Robinson and asked what he thought of the hymn she was humming. Robinson burst into tears and said, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then."

All Creatures of Our God and King (Francis of Assisi)

"All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might" Psalm 145:10-11

This inspiring expression of praise found in nearly every hymnal was originally written in 1225 by one of the most interesting figures in all of church history. Giovanni Bernardone, who was better known as Saint Francis of Assisi, was a mystic, medieval monk who spent his lifetime as an itinerant evangelist, preaching and helping the poor people of Italy.

Saint Francis was born in Assisi, Italy, in 1182. After an early indulgent life as a soldier, he reformed his ways dramatically, at the age of twenty-five, and determined to serve God by imitating the selfless life of Christ in all that he did. Although his family were people of considerable means, Francis scorned the possession of material goods, denounced his inherited wealth, denied himself everything but the most meager necessities, and devoted himself completely to moving about his area as Christ's representative. At the age of twenty-eight Francis founded the influential Franciscan Order of Friars, which developed into a large movement of young men and some women who adopted his religious beliefs and ascetic style of life.

Saint Francis was known as a great lover of nature, seeing the hand of God in all creation. One of the well known master painting from this time was done by the famous Italian artist, Giotto, and shows Saint Francis feeding the birds. The following well-known verse was writtten in tribute to this man:

"Saint Francis came to preach - with smiles he met the friendless, fed the poor, freed a trapped bird, led home a child; Although he spoke no word - his text, God's love, the town did not forget."

"All Creatures of Our God and King" is from one of Saint Francis's writings entitled "Canticles of the Sun," said to have been written one hot summer day in 1225, one year before his death, while Francis was very ill and suffering the loss of his eyesight. Throughout his life Saint Francis made much use of singing and believed strongly in the importance of church music. In all he wrote more than sixty hymns for use in the monastery. This beautiful expression of praise is one that has survived the passing of these several hundred years.

Although there is much that is difficult to understand and explain about the author of this text, we certainly can be thankful that God ordained the birth, translation and the preservation of this fine expression of praise for His people to enjoy even to the present time.

08/22/10: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-08-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

You are Here (Dutton)

It's the coolest thing that's happened to me in the first quarter century of my life, so I don't mind sharing the link one more time. Here's a clip of this song being playing in outer space. Click forward to 0:58 to hear our friend, Shane, give us a shout out from the international space station:

STS-126 crew wake-up call, Flight Day 9

Christ is Risen (Matt Maher)

I met Matt Maher in 2005 when we were both community group worship leaders for the Passion Conference in Nashville. We had an immediate connection as I was good friends with his hero, David Crowder, and he was wearing a Darth Vader shirt that said "Who's you daddy?" What I love most about Matt is that he is a reminder of how much we have in common as Christians, if we remain focussed on the cross. Because Matt is not a southern Baptist, no. Matt isn't even a protestant. Matt, my friends, is...brace yourself...

Catholic (gasp!).

I've always relished the irony that a man from the Catholic Church, which is so often criticized for leaning on tradition over scripture, wrote a song called "Your Grace is Enough," which is one of the most Gospel-oriented songs being played in Protestant circles today. "Christ is Risen" is equally focussed on the cross, and is one more step in the process of unifying Christ's church.

Stronger (Hillsong)

I'm always encouraged, humbled, and strengthened when I hear about what's happening in Australia with Hillsong's ministry. Right now, you are sitting at your computer with, presumably, enough free time to be reading this worship blog. If you've been able to read this far, I would encourage you to take a few more moments and allow yourself to worship right where you are, in front of your computer, as you soak in God's presence with this video. And if you're by yourself, sing along. Out loud! Stronger - Hillsong 2008

When Heaven Came Down (Dutton)

If you've ever wondered what it's like to worship with us when we're on the road, this video is closest you will get to the experience. And 1:20 into it, you can hear the crowd singing the "Oh's" on this song: Dutton Worship Video #1

Our God (Chris Tomlin)

A record label executive, who is hopefully not reading this blog, recently told me that worship music is "no longer the trend in Christian radio." Apparently, she hasn't looked at the top of the charts recently...

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Our God

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Passion: Awakening

08/15/10: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-08-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

Sing Sing Sing (Tomlin)

Psalm 13:6 - I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

Come and Listen (Crowder)

psalm 145:11-12 - They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Christ is Risen (Maher)

1 Thes 4:14 - We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

Sometimes (Dutton)

psalm 130:3-4 - If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.

Stronger (Hillsong)

Isaiah 40:29 - He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

08/08/10: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-08-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

Christ is Risen (Matt Maher)

1 Cor 15:55 - "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

Our God (Tomlin)

Psalm 77:14 - "You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples."

Our God Reigns (Delirious)

Rev 19:6 - "Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns."

After All (Dutton)

John 15:2 - "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

Awakening (Tomlin)

Psalm 57:8 - "Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn."

08/01/10: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-08-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

The Glory of it All (Crowder)

Revelation 22:13 - I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

News flash: Dutton is not the first or last name of anyone in the band. We formed as a group to fill in for David Crowder*Band when they were away from their home church - Ubc, which is on Dutton Avenue in Waco, TX. And although we've filled in for DC*B over 100 times, we've never played an event together...until this weekend.

Friday night we had the honor of playing at the Texas Student Evangelism Conference with the Crowder guys. As I watched them lead, I was reminded of how much this band has influenced what we do. Yes, yes we've done our best to get out from under their shadow, but I must give credit where credit is due. If I need advice about serious issues in our line of work (record labels, hiring an agent, songwriting, royalties, etc), I know I can call David and he will speak wisdom into my life.

And his songwriting is always a little left of what everyone expects in the worship world. The guitar part and lyrics in this song are a perfect example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg-1yM6insA

Mighty to Save (Hillsong)

Zephaniah 3:17 - The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

7,000,000 hits on a live worship video? Wow. This song has brought the good news to so many people all over the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-08YZF87OBQ

How He Loves (McMillan)

Ephesians 5:2 - live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Listen to songwriter John Mark McMillan speak powerfully about this beautiful song he has written in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NXWE6AC8ao

Here is Our King (Crowder)

Rev 11:15b - "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."

Watch Crowder, himself, teach budding worship leaders how to play this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aea5Mq4sSUA

You are Good (Walter)

Psalm 62:2 - He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

verse 2: "I cry in pain, I sing for joy and then I cry in pain. Still you are worthy of my highest praise, for you remain unshaken."

I'm doing things a bit differently this week and writing this blog in retrospect, as we played these songs yesterday (usually we play the day after I write each entry).

On Sunday, our pastor Gary Singleton preached a sermon entitled "Why all the pain?" from James 1:2-4 (consider it pure joy when you face trials) and John 15 (He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful). Writing this blog in retrospect, I'm able to tell you that I immediately applied these passages in a phone conversation with a friend that afternoon. The exact chapter references and verses were on my mind from the sermon that morning, and I was able to reference them to someone who was facing one of life's many trials. I would encourage you to read both of these passages:

James 1

Trials and Temptations

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.-

John 15

The Vine and the Branches

¹"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes^{a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} so that it will be even more fruitful. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

07/25/10: Logan's Worship Blog Post

2010-07-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

Skip to "Blessed Be Your Name" if you're not going to read everything in this blog

Summer Fun (Blog Intro)

It's been a while since I sat down and gave some thought to this blog, but it's not my fault! It's summer's fault. For most people, June and July represents a vacation of sorts, but for worship bands, it's go time. Take our first weekend of the summer, for example. We spent the week in Colorado, drove 16 hours to Dallas on Friday, got up early Saturday morning and flew to DC, flew back Sunday, drove to Oklahoma Monday. And we wouldn't have it any other way. We've seen hundreds, if not thousands of kids come to faith in Christ during the past eight weeks. For a little taste of the summer madness, check out this video: Dutton Falls Creek Rap Video

Sometimes (Logan Walter)

Romans 8:10 - But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

Most of our summer is spent leading for youth events, so we spend a lot of time engaging the students with celebratory worship. Upbeat songs like Oh What a Joy, Joyful, and Call to Action get a lot of requests, which makes Sometimes a surprising selection for camp worship. It's reflective, it consists of piano, acoustic guitar, pedal steel guitar, a laid back bass line, zero electric guitars, and even the drums are played with brushes instead of sticks. The lyrics are are a spiritual challenge for adults, and yet this song has touched the lives of countless teenagers.

Click on this link to see archived footage of us playing "Sometimes" at a camp a few weeks ago. They didn't have a crowd microphone set up, so you can't hear the students, but there were 5,000 of them in the audience singing every word with all their hearts.

Scroll down to WEEK FIVE and click on FRIDAY, then move the cursor 35 minutes into the service, and you will find what you're looking for. CLICK HERE FOR THE FOOTAGE

Awakening (Chris Tomlin)

Psalm 57:8 - Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.

Our last camp of the summer took place this past week, and it was a great one. I grew up going to Mount Lebanon with First Baptist Church of Woodway for Sondays camp. 2003 was my last year to go as a student and it was a killer line-up: Chris Tomlin leading worship and some new guy named Matt Chandler bringing the Word. In 2006, I was 21 years old and had some big shoes to fill as Dutton was asked to lead worship alongside Chandler for his return to Sondays. By that time, Matt had become my favorite speaker on the planet, so when I heard that Sondays 2010 was going to be the "Re-return" of Matt Chandler to Sondays, I resolved to do everything I could to make it the best experience possible.

"What's the theme?" I said.

"Awakening," said camp director Bob.

"WE'LL LEARN IT!" I said.

Word of caution: When presented with a camp theme, such as "Awakening," make sure you are aware of all songs by that title. Here's how the conversation should've gone:

"What's the theme?" I said.

"Awakening," said camp director Bob.

"Which one?" I should've said.

"Switchfoot" he would've said.

Nevertheless, the Tomlin "Awakening" was worth learning, and because of this providential mistake, we'll probably be singing it at the Heights for many months and even years to come. God is funny.

In Control (Logan Walter)

Psalm 24:1 - The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it

I know, I know. I've been talking a lot about our travels. What about our home church? Relax, everybody just relax and know that we may spend 4 or 5 days with these campers, but we spend 40 or 50 Sundays with The Heights, and this allows for a much deeper connection. For example, we must carefully choose a few songs from our catalogue, which we will teach campers over the course of a week, but it is impossible to present all of our songs in a meaningful way, given our short time frame with these students. So a song like "In Control" is almost never played on the road.

A lot of people ask me how we keep things fresh when we are in front of the same people every week on Sunday morning. To that I would respond: Sunday morning is the freshest time of the week for the Dutton crew. It's our chance to present new songs, play songs we don't normally play, say things we don't normally say, pray through scriptures for each song (see the verses underneath each song on this blog? Those will be projected on the back wall each Sunday morning. One of my favorite parts of the week is searching the scriptures for a verse that will connect to the hearts of the worshippers, as they sing each song).

That being said, I am looking forward to leading with "In Control" tomorrow.

Facedown (Matt Redman)

psalm 95:6 - Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker

Facedown is the name of a song, the name of an album (with DVD), and the name of a book by Matt Redman. All three have meant a lot to me. If you don't have all of these, you should at least check them out online. Here's a clip from the Album/DVD: FACEDOWN VIDEO

Blessed Be Your Name (Matt Redman)

Psalm 119:107 "I have suffered much; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your word."

Wednesday night I had the pleasure of going to dinner with the Chandler family, which consists of Matt, his wife Lauren, their 7 year old Audrey, 4 year old Reid, 1 year old Norah, and nanny Stephanie. Audrey sat by me, so she could show me all of her options for fingernail polish (glitter was the common theme), Matt sat across from me, where he could help Reid conquer a world of villainy on his hand held gaming system (probably Matt's iPhone now that I think about it), while Stephanie and Lauren sat on the other end of the table, where they could help feed Norah, who might be the happiest toddler I have ever seen. At one point, I said "Norah's a happy kid," half-expecting to hear "You should see her when she's tired" in response. But no, the parents agreed, she really is a happy kid.

That night I couldn't fall asleep. My heart was heavy. I stayed up and prayed for Matt's MRI results. He was going to Baylor Medical at 8am the next morning to find out if his brain cancer had spread. I was sad, mad, confused. How could the God I serve allow this to happen?

The next day I found out that Matt's scan was clean, and I was able to give him a hug at dinner that night.

"It's a good feeling," he said.

"Sic em Bears!" I said. (Listen, I know his oncologist didn't do her undergrad in Waco, but the sign on her hospital says Baylor in big, fat letters, so you know what? I was happy, I was relieved, and I felt like doing a Sic em.)

"So what does a 'good MRI result' mean?" I said.

"It means that I start chemo again on Saturday, and I'll go in for another MRI in two months," he said.

"So you're not in remission?" I said.

"Lauren, do they ever use the word 'remission' for this type of cancer?" he said.

She shook her head no.

"To the doctors, it will always exist on a cellular level, but I believe the Lord has healed me," he said.

"How do you feel?" I said.

"I feel great," he said.

That night Matt took us on the roller coaster ride that has been his life the past eight months. He told the story of his seizure, the diagnosis, the surgery, the realization that the tumor wasn't encapsulated, the radiation, the chemo, and then he started talking about his family.

"We've cried many tears at the Chandler house. Reid would tell me he loved me, and I would just start weeping. At one point, Lauren asked why I was always retreating to my room, and I had to tell her I couldn't be around the kids, it made me want to cry."

At that point in the sermon, I was hiding my own tears from the campers. Then he said something that broke me.

"The doctors have given me 2-3 years to live. That was 8 months ago."

I started weeping. Yeesh, I'm tearing up even as I blog about it. I thought "Good MRI results" meant he was healed. I thought the prayers had worked once and for all, I thought it was a done deal, I thought it was confirmed that Matt was on the road to full recovery. In faith, I still believe this to be so. I still believe as Matt believes, that the Lord has healed him and will continue to heal him, but there is no doubt that the Chandler family is going through a trial like most of us will never know.

After his sermon, we got up on stage, and I teared up again as we sang these words:

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be your name

The song had new meaning, new power, new faith. You could taste the bitterness and sweetness of life in the lyrics. God used Matt's story to show us a glimpse of heaven that night, as we sang. It was Holy worship.

And tomorrow will be no different. We will enter directly into the Holy of Holies and sing this song for the glory of our Creator. And after we sing, Afshin Ziafat is going to share with us about another trial that is unlike any we have ever known, and it comes from Genesis 22. He gives and takes away:

Genesis 22:2 - Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

PRAY FOR MATT AS HE GOES THROUGH A ROUND OF CHEMO THIS WEEK!

07/11/10: Logan's Worship Blog Post

2010-07-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

Take it All (Holmes/Sampson)

Romans 1:16 - I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes

Call to Action (Logan Walter)

"Sympathy is no substitute for action." — David Livingstone, missionary to Africa

Our God (Chris Tomlin)

ephesians 6:10 - be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Our God Reigns (Martin Smith)

Psalm 103:19 - The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.

06/20/10: Father's Day Worship Blog

2010-06-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

Our God (Tomlin)

Romans 8:31 - If God is for us, who can be against us?

Click Here for a video with Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman about "Our God"

How Deep the Father's Love (Stuart Townend)

1 John 3:1 - How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Click Here to watch the songwriter talking about the story behind this song

This is My Father's World (Maltbie L. Babcock)

2 Corinthians 6:18 - I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty

hymn story:

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:1, "To every thing there is a season." In Ecclesiastes 3:11, Solomon adds, "He hath made everything beautiful in his time." The Lord also reminds us that the world is His and the fullness thereof in Psalm 52:12. Apparently, this what Maltbie L. Babcock had in mind when he wrote the hymn, "This Is My Father's World."

Born in Syracuse, New York, on August 3, 1858, into a socially prominent family, Maltbie was given many opportunities to succeed, which he did not waste. At Syracuse University, he was a champion baseball pitcher and an outstanding varsity swimmer. His friendliness, coupled with a magnetic personality, made him a natural leader. In the years that followed, he was ordained into the Presbyterian Church and had a distinguished ministry in Baltimore and New York City's Brick Presbyterian Church. His life would be cut short at the age of 43, while on a Mediterranean tour to Naples, Italy. Rev. Maltbie Babcock would, by now, be totally forgotten except for one thing: he penned a song, thus preserving his story for us who love the hymns.

The pastor was a skilled musician and a great lover of nature. He enjoyed the "great out of doors." While pastoring a church in Lockport, New York, the inspiration for writing "This Is My Father's World" came to him. Rev. Babcock was in the habit of taking morning walks to the top of a hill north of Lockport where he had a full view of Lake Ontario and the surrounding countryside. He would say to his wife, "I'm going out to see my Father's world." It was on one of these early morning walks that he was inspired to write these words:

This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.

Maltbie Babcock understood that nature reflects God's creative ownership of the world, but he also understood that the Lord also controls man' destiny:

This is my Father's world, O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong
God is the Ruler yet.br> This is my Father's world! The battle is not done,
Jesus who died shall be satisfied.
And earth and heaven be one.

All Creatures of Our God and King (Francis of Assisi)

Ezra 7:27 - Praise be to the LORD, the God of our fathers

hymn story:

In 1225, a devoted Italian monk named Francis of Assisi wrote the lyrics for “All Creatures Of Our God and King." The music portion was added much later. Praise of God is the theme surrounding this lovely hymn and it echoes Francis' love for the world God created. All earth's creatures get life from God and all depend on Him for their existence. Saint Francis of Assisi, as he was to be later known, had a deep abiding love of nature and saw God’s hands in everything. The wonderful music and lyrics of “All Creatures Of Our God And King” reflect the grateful heart that penned the words.

Throughout his life, Saint Francis of Assisi demonstrated a humble and forgiving spirit. The beneficiary of inherited wealth, Francis lived the self-indulgent life of a soldier until the age of twenty-five. Then, he renounced his birthright and chose to live a poor, meager lifestyle as his honor to Christ’s selflessness. One psalm comes to mind when referring to Saint Francis of Assisi: Psalms 145:10,11 "All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power." The words and music of “ All Creatures Of Our God And King” causes the listener to pay attention to God’s handiwork all around them.

A Simple Prayer (Gabriel)

My dad, Jeff Walter, led worship in a band called Gabriel for 18 years. They were regularly played on KLTY, had some nationally released albums, and were the ultimate road warriors. Before I was born, my dad and his band mates, Robert and Robin, would be on the road as much as 250 days per year! And though I've been leading worship since the seventh grade, I have never led with one of Gabriel's songs. I thought Father's day 2010 would be a good time to make that happen.

My brother is a counselor at a Christian camp in the Ozarks this summer, and my mom is visiting my missionary sister in the Dominican Republic, so I invited my dad up to Richardson for a little father, son one on one time this past Sunday. I intentionally waited to post this blog until after the service, so my dad could be surprised by the song selection. It worked.

Brian played the piano part to perfection, I added acoustic guitar, and Shane rounded out the three part harmony. It was worship. At the end, I simply said "Amen. I love you Dad," then went to give him a hug. He was crying. A lot! But hey, real men aren't afraid to let the Heavenly Father stir their emotions. At lunch afterwards, he called it one of the "highlights" of his life and expressed his hope that I would someday be able to know what he had experienced, when I have a son of my own. How deep the Father's Love for us. How vast beyond all measure!

06/12/10: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-06-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

Come Thou Fount (Robert Robinson)

Deuteronomy 8:7

⁷ For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills

hymn story:

Turning to the young Robert Robinson, the bleary-eyed gipsy fortune-teller pointed a quivering finger and said, “And you, young man, you will live to see your children and your grandchildren.”

Robert Robinson suddenly paled and said, “You’re right. She’s too drunk to know what she’s saying. Leave her alone. Let’s go.”

But her words haunted him the rest of the day. “If I’m going to live to see my children and grandchildren,” he thought, “I’ll have to change my way of living.”

That very night, half in fun and half seriously, he took his gang to an open air revival service nearby where the famous evangelist, George Whitfield, was preaching. “We’ll go down and laugh at the poor deluded Methodist,” he explained

Two years and seven months after hearing that sermon, twenty-year-old Robert Robinson made his peace with God, and “found full and free forgiveness through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.”

Joining the Methodists, and feeling the call to preach, the self-taught Robinson was appointed by John Wesley to the Calvinist Methodist Chapel, Norfolk, England. And there, for the celebration of Pentecost (Whitsunday), in 1858, three years after his marvelous conversion, he penned his spiritual autobiography in the words of this hymn.

Amazing Grace (John Newton)

Ephesians 2:8

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by his insubordination. He was pressed into the Royal Navy and became a sailor, eventually participating in the slave trade. One night a terrible storm battered his vessel so severely that he became frightened enough to call out to God for mercy, a moment that marked the beginning of his spiritual conversion. His career in slave trading lasted a few years more until he quit going to sea altogether and began studying theology.

Ordained in the Church of England in 1764, Newton began to write hymns with poet William Cowper. "Amazing Grace" was written to illustrate a sermon on New Year's Day of 1773. It is unknown if there was any music accompanying the verses, and it may have been chanted by the congregation without music. It has been associated with more than 20 melodies, but in 1835 it was joined to a tune named "New Britain" to which it is most frequently sung today.

You are Love (myself)

The first verse of this song asks how we can love God more. The second asks God to help us love others as ourselves. In Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus tells us that these two commandments should be at the forefront of our hearts:

The Greatest Commandment

³⁴Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. ³⁵One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

³⁶"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" ³⁷Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Yet there is one more category of Divine Love that many of us push to the back burner, and that's God's Love for us. 1 John 4:19 tells us that "We love because He first loved us." Thus, it is impossible to love God and love our neighbor until we fully embrace God's Love for us, despite our sinful nature. God is love and Christ is in us. That's why we sing in the bridge:

"You are a part of us

Never apart from us

We are Loved

We are Loved"

Bread of Life (yours truly)

John 6:35

³⁵Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

As we broke bread for the Lord's supper this Sunday, we worshipped to these lyrics:

Break the bread of life, o Lord

break the bread to me

as you broke the bread, o Lord

that day beside the sea

throughout your word i seek you Lord

my spirit longs for thee

so break the bread of life, o Lord

break the bread to me

bless your holy word, o Lord

bless your word to me

as you blessed the bread, o Lord

that day by galilee

then all my chains shall fall away

and i shall find my peace

so bless your holy word o Lord

bless your word to me

Bread of life

You are the bread of life

you became flesh, my righteousness

Jesus you are

Bread of life

You are the bread of life

you became flesh, my righteousness

Jesus you are

Nothing But Your Blood (Redman)

Ephesians 2:13 (New International Version)

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

As we passed the cup this Sunday, we worshipped to these lyrics:

Your blood speaks a better word
Than all the empty claims I've heard upon this earth
Speaks righteousness for me
And stands in my defense
Jesus it's Your blood

What can wash away our sins?
What can make us whole again?
Nothing but the blood
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can wash us pure as snow?
Welcomed as the friends of God
Nothing but Your blood
Nothing but Your blood King Jesus

05/29/10 The Lord is a Warrior

2010-05-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes
Romans 5:8 (New International Version)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The psalms are some of the most personal passages in all of Scripture. They are filled with confessions, cries for help, thanksgiving, praise, intercession, and many more cries for help. In the spirit of the Psalms, "Sometimes" is open, vulnerable, and ultimately grateful for a grace that lifts us up when we fall short of His glory. It reminds us that we are not going through life trying to earn the cross. It cannot be earned. The cross of Christ is not a matter of justice. It is, in fact, history's most unjust act, by which Christ chose to show his unrelenting mercy and love for His children. When we sing "Sometimes," we release our desires to be found worthy and embrace His ultimate Worth.

Everything Glorious
Genesis 1:27 (New International Version)
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

"Sometimes" reminds us of our unworthiness, while "Everything Glorious" reminds us that we do, indeed, have worth. It's a biblical paradox: in comparison to our God, we are nothing, yet He still finds value in us. He still delights in us. If you are struggling with depression, listen to this song and know that you are made in His image, you are significant to Him, and your significance to Him is the only true significance that can be found in this life. If you are still depressed, eat a healthy serving of Cap'n Crunch Berries. It's God's Love in a bowl.

Jesus Messiah

John 1:41 (New International Version) ⁴¹The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ)

These next two songs deal with two of God's names: Messiah and Warrior. Every once in a while, it's good to be reminded that the Scriptures were well aware of Jesus before He was ever born of a virgin. He is, in fact, the fulfillment of several Old Testament passages. For an extensive list, go to http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/prophchr.html. Here's an example

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity." (Micah 5:2)	born in Bethlehem	And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register, along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.... And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:4-5, 7)

Warrior
Exodus 15:3 (New International Version)
The LORD is a warrior;
the LORD is his name.

Three years ago, I read straight through the Old Testament. I tend to spend most of my time in the Gospels, Paul's Letters, and the Psalms, so it took discipline to go from Genesis to Malachi, but it was rewarding. Rewarding and confusing. How can the "Prince of Peace" condone such brutality? Just look at what happened in Jericho:

^{Joshua 6:21} They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it - men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

Every living thing? God gave them permission to kill women and children? Why? In his sermon this morning, Gary answers this question. For those of you who won't be in the service, the sermon can be summarized like this: "God owns everything, God is just in everything He does, none are innocent, God takes sin seriously, the people of Jericho were caught up in sin, and God will do whatever it takes to keep sin from spreading and warn future nations of the dangers of sin." It's a difficult Truth to swallow, but it is Truth, nonetheless. God is a Warrior, and that is part of how He loves us.

05/23/10 Back from the DR

2010-05-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

I hear great things about Brian's leadership last Sunday and look forward to being back with you guys this week. The DR was a refreshing experience, not because it was a comfortable trip (I was severely sunburned the first day and was bitten by mosquitoes in an un-airconditioned room at night) but because my heart was re-ignited for the things that ignite the heart of God. All the superfluities of my American life were stripped away, until all that remained was relationships, good food, God's creation, conversation (some of the most interesting I've had in recent memory, despite a nearly opaque language barrier). Sabbaticals look different for different people. Mine was a trip to the DR, my sister's was some time with her brothers and dad in her new home, and one of her missionary friends was on our flight home to take a sabbatical with family and friends in the States. Whatever a sabbatical looks like for you, I encourage you to take one this summer. Use your sick days, go away for the weekend, find a babysitter for a couple days, take your bible and at least one other good book. My first morning in the DR, I looked through a shelf at my sister's house and found a book called "A Pastor in Prayer," which details the post-sermon prayers of Charles Spurgeon. It was just as transformative as any other experience I had while out of the country. God is good.

Can't wait to sing these songs with you...

1. The Glory of it All (David Crowder)

Shortly after he wrote it, I remember hearing Crowder talk about the phrasing of this title: "The Glory of it All." We've heard songs about God's glory and we often hear about "the wonder of it all" or "the beauty of it all," but "the GLORY of it all" is a unique phrase. It gives a freshness to an age-old divine attribute.

I'm a firm believer in the plagiarism of scripture in worship, and I love singing songs like "Create in Me a Clean Heart," which is simply a psalm put to melody. But there's also something to be said for new poetry, written from an untapped well of creativity. This song was written from that place. As psalm 40:3 says... "He put a new song in my mouth"

Here's a video of Crowder performing "The Glory of it All"

Revelation 1:8 (New International Version)

⁸"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

2. Our God (Chris Tomlin)

Pray for the Tomlin guys as they are touring the globe for the Passion World Tour. They play in Tokyo tonight. If you'd like to intercede for them more specifically in the coming weeks, here are the locations and dates in need of prayer:

Tokyo 5/22

Manila 5/25

Hong Kong 6/5

São Paulo 9/3

Vancouver (TBA)

For more information, visit http://www.268generation.com/

Exodus 15:2 (New International Version)

² The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father's God, and I will exalt him.

3. From the Inside Out (Joel Houston)

Mark 1: 7 says; "His baptism—a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit—will change you from the inside out" (Message). When our lives are truly transformed by Christ, we will abandon ourselves in favor of His will. The song of our heart will be "In my heart and my soul, I give you control." And there's nothing safe about surrendering our lives to Jesus. Just ask Steven, who was stoned to death - or Peter, who was crucified upside down. Following Christ involves risk, and our Pastor Gary is going to expound on the topic of "RISK" in his sermon tomorrow morning.

4. When Heaven Came Down (Logan Walter)

It will be nice to sing this song with you, The Heights, who know it so well, before we go out and teach it to thousands of campers this summer. I'm praying for our summer dates, and I'd love it if you would too. Click here to check out our schedule

Psalm 18:9 (New International Version)

⁹ He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.

Dominican Dutton: 05/16/10

2010-05-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

I've got good news and good news. I'll give you the good news first: I'm in the Dominican Republic this week, visiting my missionary sister, Erika, and her husband, Chris. They are a part of an organization called Makarios, which is the name of a school that gives an education to the children of Haitian immigrants, whose families cannot afford to send them to school. Erika and Chris serve as the host couple for mission groups that come to serve the school and villages associated with Makarios students. For more about this ministry, check out her blog: http://snappsdominican.blogspot.com/

The other good news is this: Dutton will still be leading at The Heights this weekend. How, you ask? Brian Patterson, I answer.

Brian is Dutton's keyboardist/guitarist who will be bringing his background vocals to the foreground this weekend. You will love it. Brian was a worship leader at FBC Hewitt and in his own band before joining Dutton. My only regret: I will not be there to see him lead. Consider yourselves lucky. Here are the songs you guys will be singing together...

Call to Action

Come and Listen (yes, brian can play this masterful piano part and lead at the same time. so talented)

You are Good

Mighty to Save

Doxology

Mother's Day 2010: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-05-08T17:12:00.000-07:00

On this Mother's day, our Pastor Gary Singleton will be encouraging the mothers in our congregation to read scriptures to their children, pray scriptures over their children, and even sing scriptures as a family. So we are going to do just that on Mother's day morning. I have chosen songs that have been taken directly from God's Holy Word, and this blog will simply consist of those passages, which correspond to the lyrics in the songs we'll be singing together.

I encourage you to read, pray, and sing these scriptures as you read through this blog.

Psalm 119:11 (New International Version)

¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God (Eliza Edmunds Hewitt)

Matthew 6:33 (New International Version)

33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

And His righteousness

And all these things shall be added unto you

Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Matthew 4:4 (New International Version)

4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God

Man shall not live by bread alone

But by every word

That proceeds from the mouth of God

Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Matthew 7:7 (New International Version)

7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Ask and it shall be given unto you

Seek and ye shall find

Knock and the door shall be opened unto you

Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Everlasting God (Brenton Brown)

Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Jesus Messiah (Chris Tomlin, Daniel Carson, Ed Cash, and Jesse Reeves)

2 Corinthians 5:11-21 (New International Version)

¹¹Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. ¹²We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.¹³If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

¹⁶So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Holy is the Lord (Chris Tomlin)

Isaiah 6

Isaiah's Commission

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory."

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

9 He said, "Go and tell this people:
" 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'

10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed."

11 Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?"
And he answered:
"Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,

12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.

13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

Bread of Life (Logan Walter)

John 6

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

1Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

10Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

14After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Serve Sunday 05/02/10; Logan's Worship Blog

2010-05-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

This week we will be combining with the traditional service for a brief time of worship at 8:20am, followed by an entire morning of service in the community around the church. It's called "engage Sunday," and it was quite the experience back in August. We'll see if I can keep the paint off my face and the poison ivy off my legs this time.

Come Thou Fount (Robert Robinson, who was 22 years of age when he penned this one)

There are always several factors involved in choosing a set list, and this week, one of the factors includes "familiarity for both our traditional and contemporary congregations." Dutton plays this song often, thus it will be singable for all Heights goers. And the goal of "engage sunday" is to bless our community, so I cannot think of a better way to start the worship service that to sing "Come thou fount of every blessing."

For those of you who may be confused by the line, "Here I raise mine Ebenezer," just take a look at 1 Samuel 7:12

1 Samuel 7:12 (New International Version)

¹² Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,^[a] saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."

Footnotes: Ebenezer means stone of help.

Mighty To Save (Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding)

When Trent Blackley (worship leader for the 915 service) and I were thinking through songs that would be familiar for both services, this is the first song he suggested. It has recently passed "How Great is Our God" to become the most sung worship song in the world, and it happens to be one of my favorites. For those of you who are interested in these kinds of things, here is a list of the top 25 worship songs as of February 2010:

1	Mighty To Save	Fielding, Ben\Morgan, Reuben	4591782
2	How Great Is Our God	Tomlin, Chris\Reeves, Jesse\Cash, Ed	4348399
3	Blessed Be Your Name	Redman, Beth\Redman, Matt	3798438
4	Here I Am To Worship	Hughes, Tim	3266032
5	Everlasting God	Brown, Brenton\Riley, Ken	4556538
6	Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)	Tomlin, Chris\Giglio, Louie\Newton, John	4768151
7	Open The Eyes Of My Heart	Baloche, Paul	2298355
8	Your Grace Is Enough	Maher, Matt	4477026
9	Jesus Messiah	Tomlin, Chris\Carson, Daniel\Reeves, Jesse\Cash, Ed	5183443
10	Holy Is The Lord	Tomlin, Chris\Giglio, Louie	4158039
11	Shout To The Lord	Zschech, Darlene	1406918
12	Forever	Tomlin, Chris	3148428
13	You Are My King	Foote, Billy	2456623
14	Come Now Is The Time To Worship	Doerksen, Brian	2430948
15	Revelation Song	Riddle, Jennie Lee	4447960
16	In Christ Alone	Townend, Stuart\Getty, Keith	3350395
17	Lord I Lift Your Name On High	Founds, Rick	117947
18	Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)	Baloche, Paul\Brown, Brenton	4662491
19	God Of Wonders	Byrd, Marc\Hindalong, Steve	3118757
20	We Fall Down	Tomlin, Chris	2437367
21	Beautiful One	Hughes, Tim	3915912
22	From The Inside Out	Houston, Joel	4705176
23	The Heart Of Worship	Redman, Matt	2296522
24	You Are My All In All	Jernigan, Dennis	825356
25	Days Of Elijah	Mark, Robin	1537904

God of this City (Bluetree)

Recently, we have been singing this song for Port Au Prince and the people who desperately need healing in the nation of Haiti. But this morning, we sing it for the community that we are about to engage with service. Jesus calls us to reach out to our city, our nation, and our world. Today we focus on our city.

Acts 1:8 (New International Version)

⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem (our city), and in all Judea and Samaria (our country), and to the ends of the earth."

Jesus Paid it All (Elvina Hall)

Just found this hymn story:

One Sunday morning Elvina Hall was sitting in the choir section at her church, Monument Street Methodist Church, in Baltimore, Maryland. She wasn't exactly bored with the sermon that Pastor George Schrick was preaching, but while he spoke about Jesus, Elvina's mind drifted to what Jesus had done for us and realized that Jesus had truly paid the entire price for our sins. The words to our hymn "Jesus Paid It All," were born that morning and the only thing Elvina had to write the words on was the inside cover of her hymnbook. Later, when she gave the words to her pastor she found out that the organist had just written a tune and both words and tune fit perfectly together. The hymn was published in 1879.

1 Peter 1:18-19 (New International Version)

¹⁸For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Call to Action (Logan Walter)

Engage Sunday is the reason that I wrote this song. Or, I should say, the service mindedness of our church (which led to the creation of Engage Sunday) is, itself, the story behind the song.

No more needs to be said. Let my words be few. Let's show the love of Christ through our actions.

Galatians 5:13b (New International Version)

¹³serve one another in love.

04/25/10 Logan's Worship Blog

2010-04-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

We're back! After a couple 20 hour drives across the country, and two weeks away from our home church family, I am finally blogging about another Dutton set list for The Heights. And I am glad to do so.

This week, we will be led to the Word by our good friend, Afshin Ziafat. If you don't know him, you are one of the few, and you should check out his website: http://www.afshinziafat.com/

Here are the songs we'll be singing together this week...

1. Our God (Tomlin)

Some of you have heard me talk about one of my best friends, Daniel Carson, who plays guitar for the Chris Tomlin band. Well, last friday I was able to be a good friend, when Chris Tomlin was playing in Dallas, and Daniel was in need of a guitar for an acoustic set Chris wanted to do in the middle of the show. I put my old chet atkins guitar in the back my old camry and headed out to Bent Tree Bible, where the guys were sound checking for the evening. Soon after I arrived, Chris and the guys started playing "Our God," which is still fairly new to everyone, as it was only written a few months ago. But, having played this song at The Heights several times, I was able to enjoy this sound check time as a worship experience. It was just me, sitting on the 5th row, amidst 3000 empty seats, but I was still singing with everything in me.

When Chris introduced "Our God" to the crowd that night, he said "This song is a new one, but it seems to be catching on quicker than I expected. During sound check today, there was some guy sitting out in the seats, singing every word. I was freaking out!"

When I went to see Daniel backstage after the show, I reprimanded Chris for referring to me as "some guy" instead of "a friend, named logan, who you can worship with at The Heights in Richardson every Sunday morning at 10:50, for more information visit http://1050worship.blogspot.com/." But then I forgave him.

Romans 8:31b (New International Version)

If God is for us, who can be against us?

2. Lead Me to the Cross (Fraser)

This Sunday we are going to recognize the Heights Youth Group's senior class, most of whom should be committed to attending the Lord's school, Baylor University, this fall. Yes, yes I know Ekpe Udoh left for the draft, but we will still have an elite eight caliber team coming back next year. And don't forget our healthy Heisman hopeful, Robert Griffin, will be tearing up the turf this fall. God Bless our football coach Art Briles. Anyway! Anyway. I was given the task of choosing a song to follow the time of prayer we will be having for our Seniors, and I can't think of a better declaration for our students to make than this:

Lead me to the cross, where your love poured out

Bring me to my knees, Lord I lay me down

Rid me of myself, I belong to you

Oh lead me, lead me to the cross

1 Corinthians 1:18 (New International Version)

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

3. You are Good (some guy)

I think it's important for worship leaders to spend consistent time in the Psalms. Read them every day. Read different translations. Read commentaries. Make your own commentaries! Pray the words! Put the words to music! Recently, I've been praying through five NIV psalms each day, and today I read through my favorite 5 psalm stretch: psalm 21-25. I try to highlight my favorite parts, and by the end of my reading time today, I realized that I had highlighted every last word of those five psalms. Yes, that may defeat the point of highlighting, but I love the smell of highlighters, so it was still a gratifying task.

I was not only blown away by the poetry of these five psalms, I was broken by their honesty. As much as any man in history, David experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, but he gave glory to God at every turn. That is the goal of this song. Honesty, brokenness, and trust. I would encourage you to spend some time with psalm 22 today. Everyone remembers psalm 23, but what is David going through in the previous prayer...

Psalm 22

For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David.

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?

² O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.

³ Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.

⁴ In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.

⁵ They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.

⁷ All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

⁸ "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."

⁹ Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.

¹⁰ From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.

¹¹ Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

¹² Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

¹³ Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.

¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶ Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.

¹⁷ I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.

¹⁸ They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.

¹⁹ But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

²⁰ Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.

²¹ Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

²² I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.

²³ You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

²⁴ For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

²⁵ From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

²⁶ The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!

²⁷ All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,

²⁸ for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.

²⁹ All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.

³⁰ Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.

³¹ They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn—
for he has done it.

Heights Worship Blog: 04/11/10

2010-04-12T13:31:00.000-07:00

Worship Leader for this Sunday: Richard Smith

Sunday, April 11th

Majestic - Lincoln Brewster

Here Is Our King - David Crowder

Living for Your Glory - Tim Hughes

You Are So Good to Me - Waterdeep

Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) - John Newton/Chris Tomlin

Logan's Worship Blog: Easter Sunday 2010

2010-04-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

I write to you from a hotel room in Dayton, Ohio - where we will be leading worship tonight for the Ohio Youth Evangelism Conference. I can't wait to lead thousands of young students in a Good Friday celebration of the cross.

But the cross is not our hope. The empty tomb is our hope. Without the resurrection, there is no justification. And so the real celebration takes place this Sunday morning, when we remember the significance of Mark 16:6 "And he said to them, 'Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him.'"

1. Let God Arise (Tomlin) - We'll play this song as you guys are making your way into the building for the 10:50 SERVICE. Remember, there is no such thing as an "11 o clock service" at the heights. We start at 10:50, and we always lead one song at about 10:45, five minutes before the service starts, as the countdown clock is running. So get out of bed five minutes sooner, tell your Adult Bible Fellowship leaders to let you out on time, get the kids to K-Dog a bit early, do whatever you have to do to make it to worship by 10:45!

This week we'll be singing "Let God Arise" as the countdown video shows the tomb being slowly rolled away from the grave. Don't miss this moment! And let's be honest... it's Easter. You'll have to get there early to get a seat anyway.

"Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee before Him." Psalm 68:1

2. Mighty to Save (Fielding & Morgan) - God works in mysterious ways. He holds time in His hands and sees all of history laid out before Him. He knew that when Australia's coasts were utilized a place of banishment for British criminals in the 18th century, eventually this nation would develop into a hotbed of passionate worshippers who would be writing and singing songs to proclaim God's infinite glory. "Mighty to Save" is one of the many songs we borrow from a church in Sydney called Hillsong. Here's just glimpse of what worship looks like for them: Mighty to Save Video

17 The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing." Zeph. 3:17

3. When Heaven Came Down (Walter) - We introduced this one at Christmas time as a song about the incarnation. But the song doesn't stop there. The first verse is about God becoming man, but the second verse says:

You were nailed to the Tree of Life

And all creation was justified

When heaven came down and kissed the earth

Son of Man, Redeemer God

The Holy Spirit was sent to us

When heaven came down and kissed the earth

So this Sunday we sing "When Heaven Came Down" as an Easter song, celebrating our Redeemer God, the justifications He gives to us, and the Spirit that he left with us. We remember that if God hadn't sent His Son to stand in the gap for us, there would be nothing standing between us and God's wrath. Ezekiel tells us that we would be consumed!

30 "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD." Ezekiel 22:30-31

4. Our God (Tomlin & Redman) - These past few weeks, you've been singing this song with all your heart, mind, soul, and VOLUME. I love backing away from the microphone and letting you guys sing this chorus on your own. Don't be afraid to sing out! Let the Spirit lead you! If a visitor, who doesn't know this song, is standing beside you - your passion and willingness to shout praises to God will encourage them to do the same. Sing! Sing! Sing!

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9

5. How Great is Our God (Tomlin) - "Our English language only goes so far into saying How Great God is," Chris Tomlin says in this HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD VIDEO INTERVIEW. Watch it.

Shout for joy, O heavens;
rejoice, O earth;
burst into song, O mountains!
For the LORD comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. Isaiah 49:13

And don't forget to invite everyone you know to church this Sunday. This is one of a few Sundays throughout the year that you may get more "Yes's" than "No's" when you extend an invite!

03/27/10 Logan's Worship Blog

2010-03-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

After leading worship for a three day revival at UMHB this week, I took a bit of a songwriting/recording sabbatical out at my parents house in Lorena. So right now I'm feeling refreshed and confident about God's path for my corporate worship songwriting, AND I'm ready to blog...

Here is a little something about each song we are playing tomorrow:

1. Here is Our King (David Crowder) - Oh wow! Just found this recording of Crowder talking about this song's story. It's worth it! Click here to listen

2. Our God (Chris Tomlin) - This was my favorite song to play at the UMHB revival this week. Once again, God has placed a song on Chris' heart that is scriptural, singable, and uplifting. As we were playing this song on Monday, the Tomlin band was entering the studio for the first day of recording on their new album. Be praying for them as they create music that we will all be directing to God soon enough!

3. Bread of Life (Logan Walter) - Written three weeks ago. It wasn't until I was putting together this week's communion set list that I realized "Bread of Life" works well as a "Taking of the Bread" song. Brian came over today and we worked up a little Acoustic-Guitar/Piano version of this song that I hope you will enjoy.

4. The Old Rugged Cross (George Bennard) - I always love reading about the old hymns. And by reading, I mean wikipedia-ing. Click Here

5. Nothing But the Blood (Matt Redman) - This is not the hymn. Not exactly. But it does borrow lyrical themes from "Nothing But the Blood of Jesus." Several years ago, Matt recorded a live worship album of all original songs. The live worship service became the studio album. Here's a clip from that live worship experience: Nothing But the Blood Video

6. Jesus Paid it All (Elvina Hall): Song story...

It was during a Sunday morning service in the spring of 1865 that a hymn was born that pictures so well the finished work of Calvary.

Elvina Hall was seated in her usual spot in the choir of the Monument Street Methodist Church in Baltimore. Her pastor, Reverend George Schnick, led in prayer, thanking God for such a perfect and complete salvation as found in Jesus Christ. Elvina became so overwhelmed with this great truth that she felt compelled to express her feelings. Unable to find suitable paper, she took a copy of the church hymnal, The New Lute of Zion, and started to compose a poem on the flyleaf of the book. Later that day, she recopied the new poem and it to her pastor.

Sometime later, Pastor Schnick was visiting the church organist, Mr. John T. Grape. A successful coal merchant and a skilled amateur musician, Grape enjoyed composing new melodies of his own from time to time. Knowing this, the pastor inquired if any new tunes had been written recently. Brother Grape replied by playing a new melody he had just finished. Upon hearing it, the pastor exclaimed, "Why you know, Elvina Hall gave me a beautiful set of words some time ago; and if I'm not mistaken, the melody sounded as if it had been written just for her words." With that, he opened his Bible and produced the poem. As the two men started to sing and play the new song, they witnessed a union of words and music as if God had planned the writing of the hymn in the first place.

God does have a plan for the redemption of mankind that began in the Garden of Eden and was completed on the cross of Calvary. This is what Elvina Hall recorded for us when she wrote:

I hear the Savior say, Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness, watch and pray, find in me thine all in all

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.

03/21/10: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-03-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

Each week, this blog includes:

I. Songs for the 1050 service at the heights

II. Stories behind those songs

III. Scriptures for those songs

I. Set List

Sing Sing Sing (Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Daniel Carson, Travis Nunn, Matt Gilder)

When Heaven Came Down (Logan Walter)

Our God (Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman)

How He Loves (John Mark McMillan)

You are Good (Logan Walter)

II. Song Stories

1. Sing Sing Sing - We worship God in many ways, but the most re-iterated command in the bible is to "sing." I love reminding the congregation about the scriptural importance of singing as we begin the service with this song. Plus, it rocks. And it is Brian Patterson's (guitar/keys for Dutton) favorite worship song of all time. Check out what Chris Tomlin had to say about the collaborative writing process for this song: "Sing Sing Sing Song Story"

2. When Heaven Came Down - This is slowly becoming my favorite song from our "All Things Fade" album, not because of the melody, the instrumentation, the chords, or even the lyrics, but because of the way the Holy Spirit moves as we play this song at The Heights and around the country. This past weekend we played in Washington DC (click here for a video), and the response to this song was overwhelming. I was especially touched by these words in an anonymous letter I received:

"One of the reasons I was broken this weekend was your song, 'When Heaven Came Down.' Last night I just started crying during that song because for the first time in a few years I finally felt God and His presence. I just wanted to let you know how much you did for me by playing that song."

Since playing in DC, I have received several messages from students who said that "When Heaven Came Down" moved them to tears. This confused me, as I've always thought it was a joyous and uplifting song. Then I realized that it wasn't the song causing this reaction; it was the cross. Our time in DC was spent with speakers Dawson McCallister and Mark Matlock, who took the students on "a walk with Christ to the cross." The teaching was intense, scriptural, and focussed entirely upon the Passion story. By the time we got up on stage to play "When Heaven Came Down," the congregation was ready to surrender everything before the cross and release their emotions of gratitude and joy in a time of corporate worship. The teaching of the cross made room for the Spirit to move!

3. Our God - It's amazing what is happening at Passion City Church in Atlanta, GA and I am so blessed to hear all about it from my good friend Daniel, who plays guitar for Chris Tomlin. For those of you who don't know, Louie Giglio is pastoring a church with some worship leaders you may know: Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Christy Nockels...yeah, pretty awesome. From this core group of church members, a songwriting group has formed, including Louie, Matt, Christy and her husband Nathan, Chris Tomlin and his bandmates Jesse Reeves & Daniel Carson, to name a few. These writing sessions are producing some amazing songs, and this is one of them. If you haven't bought the Passion: Awakening album yet, do it! We'll be playing more songs from this album in the months to come!

4. How He Loves - This song has an amazing story behind it, which I cannot find anywhere on the internet. Someone must have removed the video? I am going to find it and post it next time we play this song, but for now, you should watch Crowder's amazing How He Loves Music Video

5. You are Good - I went to high school and college in the Waco area, and I've come home for a couple days to watch my Baylor Bears advance to the sweet sixteen. Sic em! Right now I'm sitting on my parent's couch, where I wrote "You are Good" late one night in December of '08. I haven't thought about this until now, but I think there's something to be said about "where" a song is written. I love my Duplex in Dallas, but the clubs nearby are allowed to blast hip-hop music until 2am every night, so "late night" song inspiration about God's goodness is unlikely. In fact, it's a reminder of how difficult it is to separate ourselves from the noise of life and allow room for the Holy Spirit to speak.

I have no trouble finding space at my parent's house, on 2.5 acres out in the country, where even the nearby houses are separated by dozens of trees. So, one interpretation of this song could be: "God, You feel so close (when I am listening to Your Spirit) and then so far away (when I fail to block out the noise of life), still you are worthy of my highest praise (and Your worth is impressing upon me right now, out here in the country, on this couch, where i am writing this song), for You remain unshaken (whether i am out in the country or trying to fall asleep to hip-hop music, your goodness is steadily infinite)."

III. Song Scriptures

1. Sing Sing Sing- Colossians 3:16

16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

2. When Heaven Came Down- 1 Timothy 3:16

16Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
He appeared in a body,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.

3. Our God- 2 Chronicles 2:5-6

5 "The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him?

4. How He Loves- Psalm 36:7

7 How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

5. You are Good- Psalm 31:19

19 How great is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you,
which you bestow in the sight of men
on those who take refuge in you.

03/14/10 Logan's Worship Blog

2010-03-12T23:16:00.000-08:00

We (Dutton) are in Washington DC this weekend and will not be able to make it back in time for church on Sunday. This will be one of only 10-12 Sundays that we will be gone throughout the year, but I'm sure some of you are wondering WHERE we go and WHAT we do when we're on the road. Well, that question can be answered by visiting my YOUTUBE PAGE, where I make music videos to document our travels. For example, check out this video I made after our last trip to the nation's capital: "Dutton in DC"

Taking our place this week will be a talented worship leader named Jon Abel. Check out his set list below and find out more about him at www.jonabel.com

Opening Song :
1. Awesome is the Lord Most High

Congregational Worship :
1. It Is well with my soul
2. Be Thou My Vision
3. How Great Thou Art

Offertory Song :
1. Crying Out To You

03/07/10: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-03-05T11:49:00.000-08:00

Each week, this blog includes:

I. Songs for the 1050 service at the heights

II. Stories behind those songs

III. Scriptures for those songs

I. Set List

You are Here (Logan Walter)

Changed (Logan Walter)

Call to Action (Logan Walter)

You are Good (Logan Walter)

Bread of Life (Logan Walter - never been played! wrote it this week! yikes.)

II. Song Stories

1. You are Here - I'll write about the theology of this song in a later post. For now, all you need to know is that this song has been played in space, thanks to our good friend, astronaut Shane Kimbrough, and his lovely wife, Robbie, who chose the music for Day 9 on the international space station. It is probably the coolest thing that has ever happened to us. You can hear Shane give us a shout out from space at 1:02 on this YouTube clip: Dutton in Space

2. Changed - Before we step onto stage for a time of worship, I often pray that we will simply encounter God's presence, because I know that if we truly encounter the Living God, our lives will be changed. It seems elementary, but how many times do we leave church with changed hearts and minds,? How many times do we allow the face of God to burn a new imprint of Holiness upon our souls? Most of the time we leave the same way that we came: thinking about lunch, craving a nap, dreading Monday morning. We find out in Isaiah 6 that a true encounter with God demands better of us: Isaiah 6:1-8

3. Call to Action - Part of being on staff at "The Heights" is having accountability, which we have with John Wills (executive pastor) and Dave Rogers (too many job titles to list). We respond to questions about our lives as we read through books, such as "Jim & Casper Go to Church." In this book, Jim Henderson (a pastor) visits several American churches with a guy named Matt Casper, who is an atheist.

Throughout the book, Casper keeps asking Jim (and this is a paraphrase): "Jim, this Jesus I've heard about and read about...He doesn't just believe in something, he does something about His beliefs. He heals the sick, feeds the hungry...Jim, where's the "call to action" ** in the church?" Last year, our church focussed on "Serve," reaching out the the communities around us. So the song was inspired both by the book and what was happening in our church community.

**Jim visited our church this summer and we had the honor of playing this song for him. He loved it! And he said, "Casper's a total music buff; he will be so stoked to find out that he helped inspire a rock song."

4. You are Good - We played this one for the first time last week, and nobody filed a complaint, so we are playing it again. Do you want to know a little worship leading secret? There's a formula to introducing a song. It goes like this:

a. week one: introduce the song

b. week two: if the song goes well, play it again to familiarize the congregation with the lyrics and melody

c. week three: give it a rest. nobody wants to hear the same stuff three weeks in a row

d. week four: play it again, in hopes that the church will be able to internalize the song.

Ok, ok. There's not really a formula, and if there is, I don't follow it very well. Worship is not meant to be formulaic, but that doesn't mean that worship leaders can't use reason. Common sense is of God, and as people of God, we are called to use Common Sense well! Dave Rogers, Heights staff member and accountability partner, once told me that people need to hear something three times before they remember it. This is another unofficial statistic, but I usually adhere to it. That's why we don't introduce a song at a church camp, unless we can play it at least three times throughout the week.

Great. Now that I've told you the secret formula, I don't want to use it anymore. "You are Good" next week. Three times in a row. Deal with it.

5. Bread of Life - I've never done this before, but I am going to have the congregation be seated and introduce this song to them, just me and the acoustic guitar. The band hasn't even heard it!

It's inspired by the 19th century hymn, "Break Thou The Bread of Life"** and chapter two of Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology," which my small group discussed this week. Some songs, such as "You are Good," are simply meant to be songs of praise. Other worship songs have a function (ex: "You are Here" and "Welcome Here" function as a Call to Worship). "Break the Bread" has a specific function in a worship set. It's meant to be played before the sermon, as we ask God to speak to us through His Word. In the spirit of the hymns, the music is simple and singable. Very simple. In fact, don't get your hopes up. It's the most simple song I've ever written.

But the words are True:

Break the bread of life, o Lord

break the bread to me

as you broke the bread, o Lord

that day beside the sea

throughout your word i seek you Lord

my spirit longs for thee

so break the bread of life, o Lord

break the bread to me

bless your holy word, o Lord

bless your word to me

as you blessed the bread, o Lord

that day by galilee

then all my chains shall fall away

and i shall find my peace

so bless your holy word o Lord

bless your word to me

Bread of life

You are the bread of life

you became flesh, my righteousness

Jesus you are

Bread of life

You are the bread of life

you became flesh, my righteousness

Jesus you are

throughout your word i seek you Lord

my spirit longs for thee

so break the bread of life, o Lord

break the bread to me

Break the bread to me

**I've actually never heard "Break Thou the Bread of Life." The lyrics were written at the end of the second chapter in Grudem's book, so I wrote some words and music, using the lyrical themes from the hymn.

III. Song Scriptures

1. You are Here - I

Psalm 99:3

Let them praise your great and awesome name—
he is holy (set apart).

Isaiah 7:14

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us).

2. Changed -

Isaiah 6:5

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

3. Call to Action -

Matthew 25:40

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

4. You are Good -

Psalm 25:8

8 Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

5. Bread of Life -

John 6:35

35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

02/28/10: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-02-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

Each week, this blog includes:

I. Songs for the 1050 service at the heights

II. Stories behind those songs

III. Scriptures for those songs

I. Set List

Welcome Here (Logan Walter)

O For a Thousand Tongues (Charles Wesley)

You are Good (Logan Walter)

Doxology (Thomas Ken)

This is My Father's World (Maltbie Davenport Babcock)

II. Song Stories

1. Welcome Here - I wrote this song as a call to worship. The original title was actually "Call to Worship" until we realized that 57 other worship bands had stolen that title before we had a chance to use it. Can you believe they would do that? I guess it's not a sin, but i mean... Anyway, my original musical vision for this song involved shakers, hammer dulcimers and all-acoustic instruments. That's why there's all this mountain imagery: "Let the Spirit descend like rain, washing over the thirsty plains. Let it fall down the mountain side, pouring out from the source of Life, yodelay yodelay yodelay" Sounds like a mountain song doesn't it? But the guys in the band had other plans for the production, and I'm glad they did. We all decided to go for a more epic, rocking sound...like the Mew song "Snow Brigade"!!!! It's always good when all five guys in the band agree that a particular song by a particular band is...ROCKING. "Welcome Here" doesn't sound exactly like "Snow Brigade," that would be cheating. Some of you may not even be able to hear the similarities, but as we were working up "Welcome Here," we definitely listened to this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4yXqVFw3Vo

2. O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing - My parents raised me in the Baptist church. Yes, I am a Baptist. Most of you know that by now. What you may not know is that my mom and dad grew up Methodist and met at a Methodist university in Abilene called "McMurry." My mom was even a youth minister at a Methodist church for a while! My my mom's mom (grandmommy), who is one of my spiritual heroes, still attends a methodist church. And while she admits that the Methodist church is not perfect (what denomination is?), she has always spoken very highly of Charles Wesley. This is one of the many reasons that I am fascinated by Wesleyan hymns. Check out this backstory that I found on the world wide web:

Charles Wesley was suffering a bout of pleurisy in May, 1738, while he and his brother were studying under the Moravian scholar Peter Bohler in London. At the time, Wesley was plagued by extreme doubts about his faith. Taken to bed with the sickness on May 21 Wesley was attended by a group of Christians who offered him testimony and basic care, and he was deeply affected by this. He read from his Bible and found himself deeply affected by the words, and at peace with God. Shortly his strength began to return. He wrote of this experience in his journal and counted it as a renewal of his faith; when his brother John had a similar experience on the 24th, the two men met and sang a hymn Wesley had written in praise of his renewal.

One year from the experience, Wesley was taken with the urge to write another hymn, this one in commemoration of his renewal of faith. This hymn took the form of an 18-stanza poem, beginning with the opening lines 'Glory to God, and praise, and love,/Be ever, ever given' and was published in 1740 and entitled 'For the anniversary day of one's conversion'. The seventh verse, which begins, 'O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing', and which now is invariably the first verse of a shorter hymn recalls the words of Peter Bohler who said, 'Had I a thousand tongues I would praise Him with them all.' The hymn was placed first in John Wesley's A Collection of Hymns for the People Called Methodists published in 1780. It appeared first in every (Wesleyan) Methodist hymnal from that time until the publication of Hymns and Psalms in 1983.

3. You are Good - This will be our first time to play this song at The Heights, and I am very excited about it, as I have indicated by adding five exclamation points to the end of this sentence!!!!! It's a song that is inspired by the psalms. Yes, yes most worship songs should be inspired by the psalms, but here's what i mean: 2/3 of the psalms are songs of praise, 1/3 of the psalms are songs of lament. The catalogue of worship songs in the world today does not reflect this ratio. A worship song of lament is about one in fifty (according to...a survey i just did in my head), and most of those songs of lament are downright depressing. That's not the point of the psalms. In the Bible, even the psalms of lament end with a note of trust. Take Psalm 44 for example: In verse 24, the psalmist says "you hide your face and forget our misery," yet only two verses later that same songwriter is singing about God's "unfailing love" (v. 26). So, in the spirit of the psalms, "You are Good" is both a song of lament and a song of trust. As in - I trust that you will like it, if not, I will lament. Kidding!

I am kidding.

4. Doxology - This is right up there with "Jesus Paid it All" as one of my favorite worship songs of all time. Why? It creates a confident choir of believers anywhere we play it. It's simple, it's scriptural, it's beautiful, and... that's pretty much it. those three things. Here's another tidbit from the world wide web (also known as wikipedia...don't hate):

This hymn was written in 1674 by Thomas Ken, a priest in the Church of England. This hymn was originally the final verse of two longer hymns entitled "Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun", and "Glory to thee, my God, this night", written by Ken for morning and evening worship, respectively. It is usually sung to the tune "Old 100th", but also to "Duke Street" by John Hatton, "Lasst uns erfreuen", and "The Eighth Tune" by Thomas Tallis, among others. Many Mennonite churches, especially those composed primarily of ethnic Mennonites, sing a longer and more highly embellished version of this doxology to the tune "Dedication Anthem" by Samuel Stanley. This version more fully utilizes the a cappella harmonizing for which Mennonite services are known.

Ken wrote this hymn at a time when the established church believed only Scripture should be sung as hymns, with an emphasis on the Psalms. Some considered it sinful and blasphemous to write new lyrics for church music, akin to adding to the Scriptures. In that atmosphere, Ken wrote this and several other hymns for the boys at Winchester College, with strict instructions that they use them only in their rooms, for private devotions. Ironically, the last stanza has come into widespread use as the Doxology, perhaps the most frequently used piece of music in public worship. At Ken’s request, the hymn was sung at his funeral, fittingly held at sunrise.

5. This is My Father's World - There's a disciple now happening at our church this weekend and Neil McClendon has been preaching the Word to our beloved youth. He will be sharing with us on Sunday morning and has requested that we close the service with this hymn, which I have never played before but must have heard at some point as a child, because I can mysteriously sing the melody and many of the words by heart; this is officially the longest sentence in blog history. Apparently, the writer's wife found these lyrics in a book of poems after her husband had died. This I know, because the internet tells me so:

When Babcock lived in Lockport, he took frequent walks along the Niagra Escarpment to enjoy the overlook's panoramic vista of upstate New York scenery and Lake Ontario, telling his wife he was "going out to see the Father's world". She published a poem by Babcock shortly after his death, entitled This is My Father's World. Now sung as a well-known hymn, its verses are:

This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.

This is my Father's world: I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; his hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world, the birds their carols raise, the morning light, the lily white, declare their maker's praise.

This is my Father's world, he shines in all that's fair; in the rustling grass I hear him pass; he speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world. O let me ne'er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.

This is my Father's world: why should my heart be sad? The Lord is King; let the heavens ring! God reigns; let the earth be glad

III. Scriptures for the songs

1. Welcome Here -

"Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him." (Luke 8:40)

2. O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing -

“I heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands.” (Revelation 5:11)

3. You are Good -

"great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness." -lamentations 3:23b

4. Doxology -

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. (Psalm 34:1)

5. This is My Father's World -

Psalm 33: 5 "He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love." and Psalm 50:12b "For the world is mine, and all that is it."

02/21/10: Logan's Worship Blog

2010-02-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

Each week, this blog includes:

I. Songs for the 1050 service at the heights

II. Stories behind those songs

III. Scriptures for those songs

I. Set List

Oh What a Joy (Logan Walter)

Mighty to Save (Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding)

After All (Logan Walter)

Facedown (Matt Redman)

In Control (Logan Walter)

II. Song Stories

1. Oh What a Joy*

2. Mighty to Save: Laura Story did not write this song but she is the female vocalist you hear singing it on Christian radio these days. Her name was brought up a lot on our trip to nashville this week. There is a possibility that we may work with her in some capacity sometime in the future (a vague claim to make, but that's all it is at this point... speculative). Anyway, i have a deep respect for her as a songwriter (she's best known for writing "Indescribable," made famous by Chris Tomlin), and I like what she has to say about "Mighty to Save:"

http://www.crosswalk.com/music/11602412/

3. After All*

4. Facedown: "When you face up to the glory of God, you find yourself facedown in worship." -Matt Redman, and there's more where that came from! ...listen to this audio clip of Matt talking about this song: http://www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-278-Facedown-Redman.mp3

5. In Control*

*This week has been insane. We made a 26 hour round trip drive to Nashville for a showcase of sorts (led worship at a church and several record labels came to see us). Then we led worship for a conference that was broadcasted out to thousands of people across 45 different satellite locations. Both of these experiences made this week the most nerve-wracking, consuming week in recent memory. I have three original songs in the set list for this week, but we will play them again soon, and I want to give plenty of time and attention to the stories behind them. But I am EXHAUSTED. forgiveness?

III. Song Scriptures (these are the scriptures that will appear on screen during the service as we play the following songs)

Mighty to Save - Zeph. 3:17

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."

After All - Deut. 6:4-5

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Facedown - Psalm 95:6

Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker

In Control - Prov. 16:9

In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.

02/14/10: Logan's Worship Blog (10:50 service at The Heights)

2010-02-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

Each week, this blog includes:

I. Songs for the 1050 service at the heights

II. Stories behind those songs

III. Lyrics and scriptures for those songs

I. Set List

Be Thou My Vision (8th Century Irish Poem)

In Christ Alone (Getty/Townend)

You are Love (Logan Walter)

Oh Lord, You're Beautiful (Keith Green)

II. Song Stories

1. Be Thou My Vision: http://songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/be-thou-my-vision

2. In Christ Alone: http://www.crosswalk.com/1275127/

3. You are Love:

"You are Love" was the first song I wrote for the "All Things Fade" album. When I'm writing for a new album, I like to start with the most singable songs, to assure that the album is headed in the right direction. We are a worship band, not a concert band, so the goal is simple: people singing to Jesus. When I share about the songs I've written, I am usually explaining the back-story for the lyrics, but the melodies are of almost equal importance in worship music, as they too must draw people into God's presence.

For years, worship melodies were a real issue for me. Growing up, two of my favorite artists were Sting and Steely Dan. I still love them to this day and often find myself tithing to their ministries by purchasing tickets to their Dallas shows. Here's the problem: Steely Dan uses 35 jazzy chords in every song, while Sting's melodies soar out of everyone's range. For this reason, I spent most of my time in college trying to re-wire my brain to harness the more singable components of the songs I love. I had to leave behind the aspects of Sting's music that I could not apply to corporate worship (ex: the verse melody for "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You") while retaining that which could be used (the chorus melody for "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You"...in a lower key of course).

"You are Love" is a good example of the result. It has a chorus melody that soars without soaring out of range. Thanks Sting. It has a chord progression that is simple, but I threw in a flat third on the bridge for good measure. Thanks Steely Dan.

The lyrics are based around the idea that Christian Love involves three primary components: loving God (verse 1), loving others (verse 2), and accepting God's love for us (bridge). My prayer is that you will be able to embrace all three facets of Love as you sing this song to our Creator.

4. Oh Lord, You're Beautiful:

This is a simple chorus that was written by a man named Keith Green, and it's part of my testimony.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Keith Green, he was the first well-known Christian musician to be played on the radio back in the 70s. He had a massive following, his music was great, Bob Dylan played harmonica on his records, but more importantly, Keith and his wife Melody were known for opening their home to anyone who needed a bed. After their home was not enough, they bought all the homes on their street in Los Angeles and made those beds available. When that wasn't enough, they bought an enormous ranch out in East Texas and housed dozens of people who needed a home or community. It was so big that they built a landing strip for small planes to fly in and out of the ranch, and one day, when Keith was only 28 years old, he crashed and died on that landing strip.

After his death, his wife started hosting a retreat for Christian Music Artists each year, and my dad, who was a worship leader for 20 years, was always invited. Our whole family was invited, and that's where I gave my life to Christ, so Keith Green's music has always meant a lot to me. And this song in particular is an intensely personal song for me. It's the song I sing when I'm driving with the car radio off, or when I can't fall asleep at night, or when I'm feeling anxious about life, or when I'm overwhelmed by God's goodness and beauty. It's my prayer song.

III. Song Lyrics & Scriptures

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.

Thou my best thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light

(numbers 12:6)

Be Thou my Wisdom, Thou my true Word;

I ever with Thee, Thou with me, Lord;

Thou my great Father, I thy true son;

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

(James 1:5)

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,

Thou mine inheritance, now and always:

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

(Matthew 6:21)

High King of heaven, my victory won,

May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'ns Son!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

(Revelation 2:7)

blank slide - ephesians 2:19-20

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this cornerstone, this solid ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

(Psalm 130:7)

What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease.
My comforter, my all in all,
here in the love of Christ I stand

(Psalm 130:7)

In Christ alone, who took on flesh,
fullness of God in helpless Babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
scorned by the ones He came to save.

(2 Corinthians 5:21)

’Til on that cross as Jesus died,
the wrath of God was satisfied.
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid;
here in the death of Christ I live.

(2 corinthians 5:21)

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
then, bursting forth in glorious day,
up from the grave He rose again!
(1 Corinthians 15:55)

And as He stands in victory,
sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
for I am His and He is mine,
bought with the precious blood of Christ.
(1 Corinthians 15:55)

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
this is the pow’r of Christ in me;
from life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
(philippians 1:21)

No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
can ever pluck me from His hand;
’til He returns or calls me home,
here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand!

(philippians 1:21)

blank slide - Romans 8:38-39

Show us how to love you more

Show us how to love you, Lord

With our hearts, With our minds

With the cross before our eyes

(Luke 10:27a)

We realize

You are Love

(1 John 4:8)

Show us how to love each other

Show us how to love our neighbor

With our hearts, With our minds

With the cross before our eyes

(Luke 10:27b)

We realize

You are Love

(1 John 4:21)

You are a part of us

We are Loved

(1 John 4:9)

blank slide - 1 john 4:18

You are Love

(1 John 4:16)

You are a part of us

Never apart from us

You are a part of us

We are, We are

(1 John 4:10)

We are Loved

(1 John 4:10)

Oh Lord, You're beautiful

Your face is all I seek

For when your eyes are on this child

Your grace abounds to me

(2 corinthians 9:8)

1050 Worship at The Heights

05/08/11: How He Loves, With Everything, Mighty to Save, Out of the Depths

Easter Sunday 2011

01/09/11: 40 (U2), Mighty to Save, He is Exalted, Stronger, Christ is Risen, You are My King (Amazing Love)

01/02/01: Our God, When Heaven Came Down, In Christ Alone, Holy Holy Holy, Share

Heights 10:50 Set Lists 10/24/10 - 12/26/10

Heights 10:50 Set Lists 09/12/10 - 10/17/10

09/05/10: Logan's Worship Blog

08/29/10: Logan's Worship Blog

08/22/10: Logan's Worship Blog

STS-126 crew wake-up call, Flight Day 9

User Comments

Our God

Chris Tomlin

08/15/10: Logan's Worship Blog

08/08/10: Logan's Worship Blog

08/01/10: Logan's Worship Blog

Trials and Temptations

John 15

The Vine and the Branches

07/25/10: Logan's Worship Blog Post

07/11/10: Logan's Worship Blog Post

06/20/10: Father's Day Worship Blog

06/12/10: Logan's Worship Blog

The Greatest Commandment

05/29/10 The Lord is a Warrior

John 1:41 (New International Version) 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ)

05/23/10 Back from the DR

Revelation 1:8 (New International Version)

Exodus 15:2 (New International Version)

Psalm 18:9 (New International Version)

Dominican Dutton: 05/16/10

Mother's Day 2010: Logan's Worship Blog

Psalm 119:11 (New International Version)

Serve Sunday 05/02/10; Logan's Worship Blog

1 Samuel 7:12 (New International Version)

Acts 1:8 (New International Version)

1 Peter 1:18-19 (New International Version)

Galatians 5:13b (New International Version)

04/25/10 Logan's Worship Blog

Romans 8:31b (New International Version)

1 Corinthians 1:18 (New International Version)

Psalm 22

For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David.

Heights Worship Blog: 04/11/10

Logan's Worship Blog: Easter Sunday 2010

03/27/10 Logan's Worship Blog

03/21/10: Logan's Worship Blog

03/14/10 Logan's Worship Blog

03/07/10: Logan's Worship Blog

02/28/10: Logan's Worship Blog

02/21/10: Logan's Worship Blog

02/14/10: Logan's Worship Blog (10:50 service at The Heights)

John 1:41 (New International Version) ⁴¹The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ)