Adler Ministry Group: News&Observations;

Invest in your marriage this summer!

Michael and Linda Adler

and special guests, Rick and Sherri Burgess

present

DATE NIGHT AT THE GRAND 

 At the Jewel of the South, the fabulous
Grand Hotel Marriott Conference Center, in Mobile, Alabama.

Information and Registration at the web site

www.DateNightAtTheGrand.com

Friday Thru Sunday, July 23-25, 2010

Our "Hymns" project is nearly finished.  We are in the final mix stage, then it is shipped off to Hank Williams at Mastermix in Nashville, then on to Texas for processing and packaging.  We're expecting them in hand by April 2.  We'll have sound samples up on line soon.

Twelve ancient and modern hymns arranged by Michael Adler and sung by Michael and Linda Adler. Programmed by musician / drummer Richie Pena (Natalie Grant; Babyface) Guitars by Mark Baldwin Engineered by Rob Searcy. Songs include “Jesus What a Friend for Sinners”, “Thy Mercy My God”, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”, “Power in the Blood”, “I’ll Fly Away” and more, plus special bonus Adler arrangement of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow / When We All Get to Heaven”.

God has led Linda and me thru so many amazing chapters that it is hard to even focus on just one era.

Some chapters were full of adventure, big projects, activities and lots of events.

Wait a minute .... ALL of the chapters had those characteristics.

Some chapters, especially those when we first began, were like a child taking giant steps trying to be big.  We had great responsibilities, but we were truthfully just still young and inexperienced.  Soooo... we just took big steps and tried to keep up. 

Some chapters were full of challenges and one had to look hard to find a consistent source of joy.  Somehow those seasons actually made those grown up steps come a bit more easily and in retrospect, God was putting us on the fast track of growing up.

Some chapters went by far too fast.  Those were the seasons where activity was a far greater force than any sort of internal motivation or passion from God.  We were on a very rapidly moving conveyor belt and just trying to keep up.

This chapter is characterized by our desire to do fewer things and do them very well.  

This year - Luke and Lindsay are getting married May 22.  What a gift!

              -"Hymns" recording is nearly completed.  In hand April 2.

              -DATE NIGHT AT THE GRAND.  July 23-25.  Check out the "News" entry on this cool event!

God is ALWAYS faithful.  We are not.  God is ALWAYS just and fair.  We are not. 

So now we look ahead, pray a lot, rejoice in the beautiful, joyful and sometimes mind boggling treasures He places in our path and press on.

Watch our calendar and our Facebook "Adler Worship Ministries" page for details and updates.

 

 

 

 

 

Is Your Work A Perfect Fit?
Michael Adler

A few weeks ago I had a church search committee member call me to come to work for them. This gentleman was the second caller of two from the same place. Both were charged with the mission of convincing me to make a career move. While it was an honor to be sought after, I knew it was best to come to closure quickly on a request like this. I have found that to have a divided mind in this line of work makes an already consuming job become completely suffocating. Before even considering what kind of carrot is being dangled in front of my face, I need to ask myself a few fundamental questions: Do I feel a sense of closure where I am currently serving? Have I done all that God intends for me to do in the fellowship where I work? Have a learned from the Lord all that I am supposed to learn while in this place?

Back to the phone calls. We exchanged tidbits about each other’s locations. I conveyed that I felt extremely blessed to do what I do for a living and to be able to do it where I currently serve. In his persistence, the man on the other end of the phone tried to steer the conversation toward a more undesirable view of where I currently serve, hoping to make the grass even greener on his side of the fence. He started the sparring with budget questions, then on to fellow staff members, then to another oft-used weapon, musical styles. After several rounds of good conversation and my not surrendering my corner, he jabbed with this question, “Well, is the place where you are now serving what you would consider a perfect fit?”

I immediately replied with a resounding, “NO”. Do you know the feeling you get when you know you are definitely in the spirit? My response must have been one of those rare moments. I know that in the flesh, my soulish man would have at least considered the question a little bit longer before answering. But I knew that this was a God kind of answer and I’d like to show you why.

Eugene Peterson creates a perfect commentary on service by highlighting Romans 12 in his paraphrase, The Message:
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

Should our vocational goal in ministry be to find “the perfect fit”? If it is, then when the dating (search committee) relationship begins, there probably should be some sort of prenuptial agreement so that both parties have the option to move on to other relationships should there prove to be “irreconcilable differences”. I think about my friend and former college roommate John Lindstrom. He and his family live in Papua, New Guinea in very primitive accommodations and work as Bible translators for Wycliffe. I wonder what he’d say about our struggles for power, platform and recognition. I also wonder about my grandparents, immigrants from Switzerland who gave their lives in service with the Salvation Army. I doubt that the question, “what’s my package?” ever came up with them when the prospect of a new place of service emerged.

Don’t misread my rantings. I still struggle with looking over the fence at other ministries. I look at management structure and style, physical plant, staff makeup, demographics and anything else that happens to pop up on the screen of envy or discontent. BUT when the Holy Spirit is in control, I know that God gave me the gifts that I have in order that I would give them back to Him and His children; in whatever conditions may come with the territory.


I hesitate to confess this, but I believe that those of us in the music ministry have a more difficult time than any other ministerial area in separating personal preference in our area of ministry from the needs of the entire body. We have chosen a career path that postures us as leaders who express themselves through the arts, and most generally, enjoy a platform that allows that sort of expression. But the arts have an element of subjectivity that runs through them that is virtually nonexistent in other areas. When someone expresses an opinion about musical preferences or likes and dislikes, how often is it based on a chart or graph or the latest statistics? Rarely ever, I would guess. Musical expression is so much about the heart and emotions and feelings. (That’s why informing a passionate, artistic auditionee that they “don’t have the right stuff” remains a very difficult task). Along the same line of thought, when a music minister is asked to make a philosophical or stylistic change in their format, up go the hackles of personal preference. We take the latest format change personally because it is our art and an extension of what we are. Here is where our wanderlust kicks in and we decide that there must be a place where we can do it all. But here is where we have the opportunity to allow God to grow us up. Here is where that “perfect fit” philosophy can change seats with a new line of thought...”the right fit”.

Realistically, our congregation’s musical tastes are as diverse as the number of radio stations on the dial. Within that mix dwells our own preferences as well as the God-given responsibility of bringing them all together on Sunday in one united chorus of praise. Giving up our musical rights for the good of the body becomes remarkably liberating when we see our vocational position as a calling of service and sacrifice. There are few things more rewarding than to hear a 73 year old woman come to me and tell me that she’s been “doing church” all of her life, and has just now caught on to the fact that God is her audience when she sings. That didn’t happen from her singing the latest Delirious CCM hit. It came from steadily and deliberately including her and her generation, along with all of the other demographic groups in your congregation, in a worship format that continues its metamorphosis with each new trend. More often than not, it won’t be my preferences that fill the worship list, although something in there ought to really stimulate me as well. But, “the right fit” means that though your current location may not be Musical Mecca, it is where your gifts were meant to be used for that time with those people.

When you gave your life to the work of the ministry, you didn’t do it committing to ultimate personal and musical fulfillment. You came committing to Jesus and His work. The sense of fulfillment that follows a sacrificial, wholehearted ministry life is leagues deeper than hitting the latest musical lick. (Don’t get me wrong, I love hitting the latest musical lick, too.)

Too often we mentally create this dream church environment and set sail on a vocational trek searching for own artistic Avalon. I’m seeing it now, two entities running in slow motion toward each other ready to embark on a long journey of bliss and beauty. Your gifts match their desires; you’d prefer to have three days off instead of one or two; they insist on it!; You golf, so do they!; You don’t like asparagus, their church constitution has banned it! This is not reality.



My wife and I have served in the music ministry in three different churches as well as several national ministries. Each of those areas was unique and had its own personality. Most often the character of that ministry was built around the personality of the particular leader in charge. Each leader had a style, philosophy and method of doing things that distinguished him from the others. Of course we experienced a weeding out process prior to coming to land in these ministries. We declined a job offer from a guy who asked if I would leave work if my wife went into labor. I gave the wrong answer. We said no to several places where we would have been in a theological environment that didn’t fit with our background and preferences. We said “No” to some that were not going the philosophical direction we were going in ministry. And yes, some said no to us for similar reasons. But once we all agreed that this is where we were going, the very first thing we did was to ask the Lord to show us favor with His people. Without exception we have had rich, meaningful times in each place of service. And yes, we’ve also had frustrating, demotivating, and discouraging times in those same places. Had any one of those places been the perfect fit, shouldn’t we have remained there for life? Or, instead should we go ready to serve and submit ourselves to whomever God has placed at the helm?

I had one of our talented choir members call me a few days ago and describe the situation he was finding himself in as an interim minister of music at a neighboring church. He’s been looking for a place to serve full time and this seemed like the right spot. The church he was serving was searching for the full time man and initially asked him to come “on a trial basis”. After several months of hard work and good results he learned that the church was “also looking at other candidates”, but wondered if he might stay on until they come to their final conclusion?

He moaned about feeling “used”. I thought about that word and wondered out loud to him if being “used” is not such a bad thing after all. The fit may not have been perfect, but he was still the man privileged to lead that congregation before the Lord every Sunday until they made a final decision. He could drone on with his negative “I’ve been used” mantra, or determine to bless the Lord for the opportunity to be “used” to His glory.

Someone recently remarked about a fellow colleague, “He stays put just long enough to realize that his boss is human too. Then he sends out the resumes.” What does that say to those to whom we minister? Are we going to stand shoulder to shoulder with them until our life gets a little inconvenienced and then pack our gig bag and move on?

I’ve been reading a book, The Authoritative Life of William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. My family roots being from the Salvation Army, I am especially interested in this man’s legacy. His biography has reminded me what sacrifice really means. Here is an excerpt from his diary:
“I felt that I wanted, in place of a life of self-indulgence, to which I was yielding myself, a happy, conscious sense that I was pleasing God, living right, and spending all my powers to get others into such a life…”

A perfect fit comes when we are walking with the Lord and having fellowship with Him and using our gifts to His glory. We won’t always have the greenest grass on our side of the fence. Some other guy will always have something we’d like. But I want to be found with William Booth’s “happy, conscious sense” that I am pleasing God; not just through great worship experiences, but through my heart.

©Michael Adler 1999
Worship Pastor
Shades Mountain Baptist Church
www.shades.org www.adlerworshipministries.com

Worship Leader Wanted -

Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to spend time with leadership from three major Christian universities to give input into their current academic curriculum as it relates to Church Music Majors. The common dynamic with these three great schools was that the "product" that was graduating under the umbrella of Church Music Degree was NOT in many ways prepared for the expectations of today's church.

My first experience was with the University of Mobile where Roger Breland, (a huge influence in my life since I was 19) was asked to take on the position of Dean of the Center for Performing Arts. As founder of Christian recording group TRUTH in the early 70s, Dr. Breland has made his calling to invest in young Christian talent and in my opinion, he is unparalleled in that quest. The call to retool the scope and vision of this fine music program was the singular act of one man, University of Mobile President, Dr. Mark Foley, who backed Dr. Breland completely thru every major decision involved in this quest. In just a few years time this division of music has shown exponential growth and now features many premiere performing groups including their stunning brass and percussion group, RamCorps and the powerful vocal ensemble, Voices. In addition, Dr Breland has brought to this campus some of the finest academic and musical talent in the country including Integrity Music's Dr. Pete Sanchez, Don Wolf, Dr. Al Miller.

My second experience was at Liberty University where Dr. Vernon Whaley invited me to teach at their Liberty Center for Worship. Here again, Dr. Jerry Falwell stood with Dr Whaley in the reshaping of their current academic program; not jettisoning the current structure, but adding and broadening the options for today's prospective worship leader. One of the Liberty University Center for Worship strong points is the consistent exposure of their students to real world application by bringing in adjunct faculty members to teach. Current large church worship pastors are invited to teach on a short term basis, but to bring to the classroom real world experience.

The third and most recent was at Trevecca University in Nashville where I spent some of the more stimulating hours I have spent in recent days with five other men from around the country. In attendance for this intensive 36 hours was Chuck Fromm, Editor of Worship Leader Magazine; Howard Rachinski, founder of CCLI; Jim VanHook, Christian Music Industry Veteran; Carlton Dillard, Worship Pastor from Riverbend Church in Austin; and Dr Dan Boone, President of Trevecca University.

The common element to each of these appointments was the desire of these institutions of higher learning to deliberately train up a new generation of worship leaders for the local church. Each of these schools had a strong history of excellent music programs and graduates who entered the work force with excellent music skills. But the shared sentiment among all three was that the needs of the local church were not matching the profies of the graduates coming out of these music programs.

Being given this opportunity has expanded my perspective in some ways, but also has confirmed many of my long standing beliefs in others.

I think most would agree that the worship / music expectations of today's local church are profoundly different than they were in generations past. The plethora of styles alone makes the expectations for a single local church music program quite mind boggling. Add to that the sense of entitlement felt by today's lay person and you have created a formula for failure in many cases.

What is a prospective worship pastor to do with a church that asks for a contemporary-blended-mosai

Linda and I were privileged to host the MetroOne Worship Leader Conference in Nashville, TN this past February.
It is an annual gathering of 50 large church worship pastors and their wives for one week of inspiration, teaching, motivation and peer to peer interaction.
These men and women are some of the finest in their craft and hail from ministries as diverse and wonderful as Max Lucado's church, Rick Warren's church, David Jeremiah's church, and about 47 more.

Linda and I led parallel paths with the men and women divided thru most of the daytime events and then gathering together for lunch and PM venue events.
She and her team had their meeting space looking like a Pottery Barn model home; quite wonderful. They had sessions ranging from heart rending speakers to a fashion show called, "Does This Make My Butt Look Big?"

We had been in the planning stages of this for more than a year and had asked God to be in every detail. Suffice to say that He had a word for all of us in EVERY person we invited to speak, sing, worship, or entertain.

The fruit and results were far beyond what we could ask or imagine.

Many thanks go to Linda's posse of girls from our church that absolutely OWNED this week and volunteered many days and hours of their lives to help us thru the week. Janie, Becky, Lindy, Leslie, Jennifer, Kelly and Karen all played a huge role in the success of our week.

Some highlights for all of us:
- 3 On a String as the fun, but excellent opening act. Rick Burgess' opening address, "I'm Going for the Well Done. How about you?"

-Howard Rachinski. CCLI Founder
-Country Music Hall of Fame - FORD THEATER Concert with the AMAZING Kirk Whalum and band PLUS an incredible night of worship led by Travis Cottrell and band
-Dr. Ergun Caner's talk
-Dennis Jernigan leading us all in worship. He's one of the giants.
-Natalie Grant and Band in Concert at the Hermitage PLUS Michael Neale and his wonderful People's Church Band
-FINALE night at David Phelps' HOUSE! David and his band hosted us at his rennovated, all white barn for a full concert and meal. His musical gifts are mind blowing and his committment to the body of Christ is humbling. Thank you Scott Gurosky and MG&A for sponsoring this amazing night.

I found this very creative, very God filled web site yesterday.

I hope you'll check it out and pass it on. I started by viewing Brian Walsh of KORN.

www.iamsecond.com

READ IT.
GREAT book by William Young.

Some say it is this generation's "Pilgrim's Progress".

(Some say it's NOT the Bible and should be banned!)

I say that my heart is still smiling...

Our Cuba translator pressed his hands together, fingers pointed up into a praying position and said, “The Lord has shown us that we will not build His church like this (gesturing to his upright pointed fingers), because this gets noticed and then gets cut off!” Then he moved his hands diagonally as if playing the piano and said, “We will build God’s church like this”.

Indeed they have.

Linda, Jake, Brady and I just returned from a week of mission work that was like no other trip we have ever taken. We were invited to take this trip by our good friends, Scott and Kelly Gurosky, who insisted that both couples also take with us our young sons. Their boys, Drew and Davis, and Jake and Brady filled the back seat of our van on what would be the most memorable of weeks.

Our daily van trips consisted of our two families plus World Link founder, Manny Fernandez and his wonderful wife, Glenda, plus a driver, who was also a full time Cuban pastor, plus whatever random passengers were invited to join us thru the week. At one point of our trip our 12-passenger van had all of the above plus a girl with one leg, an 18-day-old baby, a fantastic Cuban singer and her fiancé, plus a grandmother. (Linda says to remind you that I am NOT making this up!) We traveled across this tropical island to three churches each day on roads ranging from moderate to atrocious. The churches were typically a three-hour drive apart and held in mostly rural locations ranging from farm buildings to shanties to thatched roof assembly areas. Even the churches considered better by Cuba standards were still a far cry from any of the physical properties we are accustomed to in the US.

At every stop we would arrive to a waiting crowd, do our best to sing the few songs we had learned in Spanish with the help of our guest Cuban singer and then Scott would bring the Word of God with Manny as translator. At each site, many had come already expecting to be baptized and still others came to Christ at the moment of our invitation. It was amazing to see God delivering people from demon worship and all sorts of bondage. We baptized many and many were saved.

Don’t think for a moment that our presence in Cuba sparked this movement of God. Cuban nationals who are on the payroll of WorldLink as pastors lead all of this work. They receive the usual $20 per month wage that everyone from orthopedic surgeon to restaurant waiter receives and they are genuinely joyful about seeing God’s hand at work in their country.

There are now nearly 1,400 vibrant, disciple-making house churches on this island the size of California and that number grows even as we write this note. We will always be grateful for the invitation of our friends, Scott and Kelly, who encouraged us to take this trip with them. We are even more grateful to have come to know our new friends, Manny and Glenda Fernandez and their work in World Link. Manny’s response to God’s call to “make disciples” is beyond commendable. The Kingdom impact of World Link in the nation of Cuba is simply mind blowing.

Our music ministry team literally hit the ground running upon our arrival in Northern Ireland on Saturday, May 24. After an all night flight departing from Atlanta, we emerged in the pastoral countryside town of Port O’ Down. After a brief change of clothes and a late afternoon meal on Saturday we headed straight to the CE Youth Center for an evening concert. Sound equipment everywhere and band and choir members filling the room, we set up for our first of a series of five very busy days of ministry.

Saturday nights’ concert took place in a room packed shoulder to shoulder with about 400 students. Many of the adult leaders present and also a good number of students had been in our concerts in the same room four years ago and this time the students outnumbered the adults by about 10 to 1. We began with a high energy worship time and we felt immediately at home, knowing that God had prepared the way for us to minister. Our student band immediately got their attention with “Fields of Grace” with its rockin’ feel and celebrative lyrics. One of the band members set up “Voice of Truth”, and you could tell that this was a peer to peer conversation that will resonate in their hearts for a long time.

Having a real high school principal as part of our music team was a real advantage to us on this trip. Cas McWaters spoke very clearly to this room of attentive students and challenged them with the word “choices”. He gave a clear gospel presentation and as is customary there, we left the follow up with those who are with the students on a weekly basis.

The next morning on Sunday we were the guest musicians and worship leaders in our host, Gareth and Jackie Martin’s church, Port O Down Baptist on Thomas Street. This is a dear congregation, many of whom remembered our visit four years ago. This was the second time in as many days where we were able to see a direct result of our visits four years earlier. ALL of us remember our Sunday afternoons in Northern Ireland, where we are fed and loved on and fed again all in the homes of church members from Port O Down Baptist.

Sunday night was a triple header for us. The student band carried the worship leadership at the 7pm service at one church and the choir and I led worship at Port O’ Down Baptist. We finished those two services and then all converged at 8:30 at Richhill Presbyterian Church for a two hour, God filled evening of worship. Three encores and many wonderful moments in worship left us all fairly exhausted but with a great sense of satisfaction that God had allowed us to do what we came to do. Linda sang “Who Can Satisfy” and then sang it AGAIN and then we finished with the beautiful prayer called, “Captivate Us”. God did that to us all at Richhill.

Monday was an off day and so we loaded the bus for a glorious day of perfect weather and the gorgeous coast of Northern Ireland.

Tuesday began with two morning appearances in primary schools led by our Children’s Ministry Team as well as our student band. As in our previous trips, these schools are more than cordial and welcoming to us and we finish each event with a pot of tea and snacks in the teacher’s lounge area. Pretty cool.

I was pulled aside by a teacher at one of our daytime school appearance and she wanted to share with me a story the blessed me immensely. It turns out that she came to the Worship Seminar that I taught along w/ our band four years ago on our first trip to NI. She told me this time that those two hours and her pages of notes from that night produced a radical change in the worship atmosphere of their church and it continues today w/ students heading off into full time ministry from that place.

We finished the afternoon with two more school events held back to back in a larger auditorium where they weren’t able to fit the whole school at once. Great fun. Each appearance was delightful for me to watch as I saw not only our whole team completely immersed in these moments with students, but also got to see our two boys, Jake and Brady, help to teach and motivate their peers in Northern Ireland toward Jesus. Pretty cool again.

Tuesday night was a concert event at the Lisburn Island Centre, a cultural arts facility with art studios, recording areas and a beautiful concert venue. A local church helped sponsor this event with hopes for developing new relationships with folks interested in learning more about Christianity. In retrospect, our invitation time was really God led and I believe that God had a specific group in that room that night to hear what HE wanted to say. We have prayed since that day for God to draw those people to Himself and to the church that sponsored the event.

Wednesday included one more day time school event and a POWERFUL concert that evening. The concert was held at the three hundred year old Church of Ireland in an area called Mullavilly. The thick stone walls, aged wooden pews and adjacent cemetery all gave us an immediate sense that we were preparing to be a part of an ancient history and a special moment. I won’t say too much about this location, but will suffice to say that there were more than a dozen teen suicides by hanging in a very small area in this community over the last year. Most of the people in attendance either knew, or were related to a family that was affected by these ungodly occurrences. The Rector of the church was a kind and very accommodating man, even though we learned that the sounds and styles we would be bringing into his church had not ever been a part of their worship patterns. He confided in me two days before the concert that though he had a bit of anxiety about our concert, he nevertheless wanted deeply to “take the risk” because he had heard about what God was doing in our concerts on previous nights and knew that there were God sized needs in his area.

We prayed for several days for this event and even on that day prayed that our only desire would be to bring glory to God. I reworked our entire set list to basically ‘unplug’ all of the modern elements of our presentation. Chris skillfully played percussion thru the whole evening with a minimal set. Our guitar players unplugged and one of our guys played dobro throughout the entire evening. That alone gave a feel of antiquity to our music and then we trusted God to make it a sweet sound to their ears and His.

It has been a long time since I experienced the manifest presence of God in an evening of worship such that we experienced at the Church of Ireland that night. Song after song we knew that God was speaking thru our words and melodies and the Spirit ministered throughout the room, both on stage and in the pew all thru the night. There were times when we opened our mouths and could not sing because there was something bigger than us at work. When Cas opened his mouth to sing, “I Can Only Imagine” it was as though the air was removed from the room. All the context of what had taken place in that community over the past year was so vivid and the beauty and the presence of God was SUCH a stark contrast to that darkness. It was as though we all had witnessed God’s soothing wash over that congregation. It was amazing.

Our thanks go to Gareth and Jackie Martin for again being such servants and such skilled hosts and such amazing facilitators for ministry. We grateful to God for the chance to do this and we are grateful to God for a church that encourages us to do so.

To God be the glory….

Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to spend time with leadership from three major Christian universities to give input into their current academic curriculum as it relates to Music Majors.

My first experience was with the University of Mobile where Roger Breland, (who, aside from my own dad, has had more influence in my life than any other man) was asked to take on the position of Dean of the Center for Performing Arts. The second was at Liberty University where Dr. Vernon Whaley invited me to teach for a week at their Liberty Center for Worship. The third and most recent was just a few weeks ago where I spent some of the more stimulating hours I have spent in recent days with five other men from around the country at Trevecca University in Nashville.

The common element to each of these appointments was the desire of these institutions of higher learning to deliberately train up a new generation of worship leaders for the local church. Each of these schools had a strong history of excellent music programs and graduates who entered the work force with excellent music skills. But the shared sentiment among all three was that the needs of the local church were not matching the profies of the graduates coming out of these music programs.

Being given this opportunity has expanded my perspective in some ways, but also has confirmed many of my long standing beliefs in others.

I think most would agree that the worship / music expectations of today's local church are profoundly different than they were in generations past. The plethora of styles alone makes the expectations for a single local church music program quite mind boggling. Add to that the sense of entitlement felt by today's lay person and you have created a formula for failure in many cases.

What is a prospective worship pastor to do with a church that asks for a contemporary-blended-mosaic-traditional-edgy-keep-the-hymns-but-not-too-many-of-them-cool-looking-worship-band-with-great-lighting-but-don't-offend-the-older-folks music program???

Here are a few observations pastors or search committees who are looking for new worship leadership for your church.

-Create a written philosophy of worship. What that means will be as diverse as the writings of Marva Dawn to Robert Webber. It simply needs to be a profile for your church.

-If at all possible, find two other "models" which you believe are realistically similar to the direction you are heading or desire to head. I say realistic intentionally because there are always churches who fancy themselves as another high profile church (Willow, Saddleback, Mosaic, Fellowship etc) but the reality is far from that model. This disparity of vision vs reality sets up the prospective worship leader for failure.

-Know your demographic and then set out to set the table for them to come and have fellowship with God thru worship.

Seek out one of these three universities for advice and even for prospective candidates.

Our hearts have always been for the local church to not just survive but thrive because the heartbeat of God resonates among His people. Worship leadership is an essential element to that formula and it must be handled with care and prayer.

Press on.

For the second straight year Linda and I have had the privilege of working with our "host" ministry, the Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association for their four day "President's Summit" held in San Destin, Florida.

Scott and his team always do an exceptional job of facilitating this event, but this year was a real standout for both of us.
Headlined by Tony Evans, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly and Pastor Ted Trailer, the spiritual and motivational input we received was simply amazing.

We had heard Tony Evans in times past on television and have even worked on the David Phelps DVD project with his son, Anthony, but to hear Tony speak in person is the real deal. The ability to illustrate Biblical principles thru the eyes of daily living is his hallmark and we were completely engaged as we listened to him unfold the Word in such a relevant way.

Jim Daly is a MIRACLE. His life story is filled with one tragic circumstance after another and yet... That is the point. Why should we ever doubt that God can make beauty from ashes! Jim is in the place of leadership over Focus on the Family that God has ordained and to us, he is a living illustration of the handiwork of God.

We love Pastor Ted from Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, so any time this fireball gets on the platform to preach, we grin and get ready to hear the word of God in a most compelling way.

We learned a lot at the President's Summit this year. We renewed friendships and made many new ones. We also learned (too late) that our gut instincts to decline the invitation to sing on an evening cruise boat were right. oops...

Thank you to the Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association team for again giving us the opportunity to lead worship for those who support you so faithfully.

You are loved.

Written by Sportscaster, Jim Dunaway...

I have spent 22 years in broadcasting and 44 years on earth, and I saw the most amazing thing I have ever seen Tuesday.
Standing graveside at a private ceremony, my wife and I saw a family bury their 2 year old son Bronner. A few hours later, we sat with friends in a special section as a sanctuary filled with hundreds of people. I saw a Church choir fill to capacity, every one of them having taken the day off from work. I sang, and I cried, I wrapped my arms around my wife as if someone was trying to steal her away. Then one of the most powerful Christian Rock groups walked on stage and continued to worship. All of this was powerful, but the amazing part was still to come.
I saw a man who I had watched bury his son at 11am, stand and deliver a message. It wasn't a message of sorrow. It wasn't filled with tears. It was a message of salvation. It wasn't just about the salvation of his son, but a message for all of us. People came to know our Lord Jesus Christ for the first time. Others, like my wife and I, recommitted our lives to Serving and walking with our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you listen to the show, you know I am a very emotional person.
When I heard the news of Bronner's drowning Saturday night, I cried. I cried off and on Sunday and Monday and up to that amazing moment Tuesday shortly after two. Then the tears went away. I had never been that close to the Face of God before. He was in that place like I have never witnessed.
I witnessed the power of God fill a man who was broken by the death of his baby. I saw that power fill his legs and lift him on stage and then fill his lungs and allow him to share a message that lasted 20 minutes but it seemed to be timeless. I promise you I could have listened forever. Again, I am sure it was God speaking through Rick Burgess' mouth. I was awestruck.

When my wife and I entered the private dinner after the memorial service, I just wanted to say goodbye and do the usual, "We'll be praying for you" message... but not on this day. Maggie and I walked up to Rick and Sherri, we hugged, we exchanged a few words, and then Rick and Sherri wrapped their arms around Maggie and me and we prayed specifically for our family and our salvation. Notice the wording there, Rick and Sherri wrapped their arms around us... that is not a misprint. 4 hours earlier, they had buried their son and they were wrapping their arms around us. God is Great.

It was an AMAZING DAY.

The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him" (John 4:23). - Pastor John

1. God-Centeredness. We put a high priority on the vertical focus of our Sunday morning service. The ultimate aim is to experience God in such a way that he is glorified in our affections.

2. Expecting the powerful presence of God. We do not just direct ourselves toward him. We earnestly seek his drawing near according to the promise of James 4:8. We believe that in worship God draws near to us in power, and makes himself known and felt for our good and for the salvation of unbelievers in the midst.

3. Bible-based and Bible-saturated. The content of our singing and praying and welcoming and preaching and poetry should always conform to the truth of Scripture. But more than that, the content of God's Word should be woven through all we do in worship and will be the ground of all our appeal to authority.

4. Head and heart. The elements of our worship service should aim at kindling and carrying deep, strong, real emotions toward God, especially joy, but should not manipulate people's emotions by failing to appeal to clear thinking about spiritual things based on shareable evidences outside ourselves.

5. Earnestness and intensity. We will try to avoid being trite, flippant, superficial, or frivolous, but instead will aim to set an example of reverence and passion and wonder and broken-hearted joy.

6. Authentic communication. We utterly renounce all sham, deceit, hypocrisy, pretense, affectation, and posturing. We do not pursue the atmosphere of artistic or oratorical performance, but the atmosphere of a radically personal encounter with God and truth.

7. The manifestation of God and the common good. We expect and hope and pray (according to 1 Cor. 12:7) that our focus on the manifesting of God is good for people and that a spirit of love for each other is not incompatible with, but necessary to, authentic worship.

8. Undistracting excellence. We will try to sing and play and pray and preach in such a way that people's attention will not be diverted from the substance by shoddy ministry nor by excessive finesse, elegance, or refinement. Natural, undistracting excellence will let the truth and beauty of God shine through. We will invest in equipment good enough to be undistracting in transmitting heartfelt truth.

9. The mingling of historic and contemporary music. No church or service can be all things to all people. But we do not value stylistic narrowness. We believe there are affections owing to God that different tunes and different texts and different genres may awaken better than others. We will strive to be who we are without exalting our own tastes as the standard of excellence or power. We will see God's guidance in each worship setting to be both indigenous and stretching.

© Desiring God

I had the great privilege of serving as a clinician / speaker for the 2007 Worship Expo held at Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa. Terry Williams and his staff did an excellent job of creating an atmosphere that was so conducive to learning, motivation and modeling of what we all want in our churches; to communicate with passion our great love for our Savior. I have to say another word of thanks to another one of the good guys out there in music ministry, Ron Upton. Ron is the worship pastor at Idlewild and just spent the weekend helping people get to rooms, carry equipment and just carrying the water for the rest of the guests. True servant leadership.
I was blessed to share the platform with my friends and peers in ministry from all over the country. Many thanks to Todd Bell, Scott White, Jack Price, Ray Jones and Michael Neale for your friendship and for the chance to serve together in Florida.

I want to say a special word for a man that I had never personally met, but had the joy of getting to know this weekend. O.D. Hall is one of the giants in music ministry as he has personally been the driving force behind Music California for nearly thirty years and has served the same church in Riverside California for 24 years. He's a humble man, a guy who can still quote a tight horn lick and a guy who loves God and His church with all his heart. I'm blessed to have gotten to know him.

Linda and I will be doing much of this same format at the Maryland Worship Expo coming up in the spring. gonna be great!

www.worshipexpo.org

Five worship services, an expectant congregation at each one, new faces each night, and a new friend in gifted communicator, Bible teacher and very funny guy, Dave Edwards.

We are so grateful to the staff and congregation of Santuck BC for their wonderful welcome, for the delicious homecooked meals and for trusting in us to lead your congregation in worship for these days of Summer Celebration.

Mae Ruth, we took on our vacation the entire basket of homemade goods you gave us and thought about you each time we had some jelly, fudge or those amazing cinnamon rolls.

Randy, your band and instrumental group did a fantastic job in assisting us in those five services and we know that God inhabited our praises.

Larry, you and your staff team are gallant in your leadership as you wait for God to bring you the new shepherd leader that He has in mind. You are all staying true to His call on your lives and God is honoring your faithfulness. We were blessed to have fellowship with you all.

Friday afternoon last weekend about 50 dads and sons from our church drove south about four hours to Battleship Park in Mobile, Alabama. We rounded the corner off the interstate and feasted our eyes on the massive battleship, the USS Alabama. Brady and Jake and I arrived about 90 minutes before check in time so we got to wander around the expansive property outside of the battleship. There, we explored WWII era planes, tanks, personnel carriers and other massive steel plated vehicles.

THEN we spotted a "helicopter rides" sign and Brady and Jake got a brief ride on the copter. It circled the entire park, headed out over the bay and then came right over the top of the ship so that they could get a birds eye view. Our assigned guide let us on board in time for a huge pizza supper and then showed us to our sleeping quarters.

Imagine how many three high, hung-from-the-ceiling bunk compartments it takes to accommodate a crew of 2250. Our group (only one of two groups on the whole boat that night) was assigned three adjoining compartments from which to choose our sleeping space.

Call me jaded, or call me the veteran of one-too-many father / son all nighters; I looked at that group and all I could think of was a night of gassing 4th graders and snoring dads. Brady thinks the same way I do and off we went with one other dad and his son.

We climbed a ladder up one level toward the surface and found another eerie floor full of hanging bunks. This level was our choice of lodging for the night and the only big sound we heard all night was the sound of the air handler humming its welcome sound of blowing cool air.

My back hurts a lot, so my night was basically miserable. The bed is shaped much like the trough that extends out the back of a cement truck and is only slightly longer than me. (we had heard from someone that there was a height limit on many sea vessels during the war. Lucky for the Adlers! … I mean elves)

My alarm went off at 6:45am and I hit the floor with a creak (that was my back). I stepped over to Brady's bunk and told him we had fifteen minutes until breakfast.

"How was your sleep?" I said.
"Great!" he said.
Sheesh.
Jake had the same response.

Back up to dinner time. We finished the pizza and the boys were basically turned loose to play spies and explore an entire battleship on their own until about ten pm. Brady was hilarious in his discovery well into the night that some of the tiny officer quarters actually had mannequins wearing sailor uniforms in some of the tourist display areas. Yaaaaahhhhh!!!!

After seeing the first one on this huge steel shadowy ship, he and his guys made it their mission to be scared on purpose and find every mannequin that they could. They would check in with me periodically to report what they had found. I remained most of the time in one of the uppermost outer decks just enjoying the sunset, the bay and the noise of all of the boys on the decks below.

Breakfast was cooked by a single African American guy w/ a navy uniform and was GREAT. Jake had five pancakes, lots of scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits. Brady and I had much of the same, plus cheese grits. We explored a little more after breakfast and then hit the road for our long trip home.

It has been a wonderful weekend.

We have been privileged to participate in many events here in Birmingham that have immersed us into the African American culture. On many occasions we have had the chance to worship, perform in concerts, weddings and even on live DVD projects, pray, or just hang out with many new African American friends. We have found people who are so gifted, so full of the Lord and so passionate about worship and are the kind of people you definitely want standing next to you in heaven's mass choir.
This last week I was invited to be a guest composer at Powderly Elementary School, a school deep in inner city Birmingham whose census has dropped by nearly 300 over the past 20 years. Music teacher, Isaiah Radcliff, invited me to teach my new song, "Music Speaks" to his fifth grade class and then to present it to the student body, parents and guests during their final 4th and 5th grade end of year ceremonies.
I had a great time, I got to see first hand the challenges of an inner-city teaching environment, and I mostly was blessed to see the valiant teachers and the exceptional students who choose to give their all and expect the best from every situation.
Thank you, Mr. Radcliff for this invitation and thank you, Shiela Davis for your 28 years of service to that school.

Ok, we're not kidding on this one. Linda and I were invited to "career day" at Vestavia Hills Elementary East last year to speak to the third graders about what we do for a living. It is a great opportunity to talk about music as a vocation, but also to talk about God and a persons' vocation as it relates to ministry.
We were doing a little lesson on song writing and I sat at the piano and composed a short melody based on some lyrics I had jotted on a napkin in the school lobby.
"Music Speaks" was born in its infant stage, it was wonderfully enhanced by writing partner, Brad Green, and now it is published by the national school music publishing house, "Alfred Music Publications"
you can see more about it by doing a search for
"Music Speaks" "Adler"
You can also see it at the:
www.alfredmusic.com web site

Ok, "Little Drummer Boy" was already national, BUT my arrangement of it was not, until the monster publishing house Brentwood-Benson purchased it just a few weeks ago. Our very skilled orchestrator, Steve Dunn, and I were priviliged to go to Nashville last week to attend the Sound Kitchen recording of our piece and we eagerly anticipate its release in June.
(Thanks Mom and Dad for driving from North Carolina to join me for this!)

We first performed this piece in our 2006 Christmas by Candlelight show accompanied by the African American drum line from Birmingham's own Ramsay High School, under the direction of 30 year band director, Ed Crenshaw. When our 2800 seat auditorium's back doors blew open and the Ramsay Drum Line came blasting thru, the collective hairs on all of the backs of our necks rose up and said "howdy do". Choir and our full orchestra joined in and the song took flight.
The song's pace is set by the aggressive cadence of the drum line and also ends with them drumming their way out the doors as they came in.
We hope to see this tune shared in Christmas shows all around the country this next year.

You can check it out at:
www.brentwoodbenson.com

Linda and I just finished an incredible four day event with the Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association in San Destin, Florida. Scott has become our friend over the past few years and this was our first opportunity to work long term with him as well as meet so many on his amazing team that work behind the scenes.
We have worked with many national ministries over the years and we have to say that SDEA is really doing it right. Scott speaks with passion and Biblical clarity and is uncompromising in his desire to live his life and lead his organization in God's way.
Mike Greer, Scott Lenning and the other very qualified members of Scott Dawson's team have worked hard to build a ministry based on integrity, character, financial accountability, and the uncompromising Word of God.
They are creative, hard workers, and passionate about doing whatever it takes to get the news of God's great gift to students and adults all around the country.
This gathering of friends and supporters of SDEA also provided a vivid window thru which we could see the kind of Godly, faithful men and women who have invested in this ministry over the years.
Our worship times were sweet and we look forward to many more opportunities to invest our gifts with folks who are working hard to increase the Kingdom.

What a GREAT group of people have gathered in this rapidly growing church just north of Birmingham in Trussville, Alabama. Mark Enoch, worship pastor, has assembled a wonderfully skilled and eager group of singers and musicians who love God and have given their gifts to the Lord in worship.
Linda and I finished a full afternoon and evening at Northpark today and looking back were very blessed by being a part of that time together.
We started a 2:30 pm worship workshop and taught and rehearsed all afternoon and then did a 6pm worship concert with the help of their choir and band.
Mark and his sweet wife hail from the great northwest in Washington state.

I recently spent a week in the middle of November in Lynchburg, Virginia on the campus of Liberty University. I was invited by Dr. Vernon Whaley to serve as a guest teacher for their Center for Worship and I'm still grinning over the experience I had with so many of God's finest young people.

Dr. Whaley runs a tight ship and kept me running from early morning thru evenings on most of my days there. I was honored to sing a couple of songs before Dr. Jerry Falwell spoke during their 10,000 student convocation. The day time classes were focused primarily on the real-world applications of worship leadership in the local church. Students in the undergrad and graduate level were engaging, intelligent, and full of great aspirations of somehow taking their artistic gifts and putting them to use in God's kingdom.

My thanks goes to Vernon Whaley, John Kinchen and all of the worship staff whose names begin with the letter "K". I'd also like to say thanks to some exceptional students, Kelly, Michael and Jordan for being such encouragers and front line friends to me during my stay.
You even made learning all- things-Mac more fun.

We're back from a very full and very rewarding time with the church at East Springfield, Pennsylvania called "The Federated". Thanks for ALL of the preparation that Michael, Dwight, Rocky and Tom put into the band and ALL of the preparation that Rick and Ed put into preparing the choirs and ALL of the work that the sound team put into services the BLESSINGS of worship and ALL of the work that Sam and his crew put into FEEDING so many; it was ALL a rich, rewarding experience that was SO full of the Lord.

Friend Day was a great success and several turned their lives over to the leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of the teaching by Pastor Ed Huntley and the work of the Spirit of the Lord in their lives.

They packed 75 singers into their choir loft and I want to say a big THANKS to all of the HIGH SCHOOL GUYS for singing their hearts out!

Many thanks to our great friends, Ed and Connie Huntley (and for marrying us 25 years ago this December!) for being such gracious hosts and for Rick, Sam and the rest of the team for allowing us to be a part of the great things happening at your church.

One final note to the "Trash Girls". You really made "Take the Trash Out" go to a whole new level and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

:)

Thank you all for your prayers and for your support of this amazing time of service in Germany. I left the team on Saturday morning and arrived home Saturday night and was very grateful to be with Linda and the boys again. She and I led worship the next morning at our church and it reminded me again how blessed I am to have the life partner that I have in her. Chris came home with the remaining members of the team today after continuing to lead thru the weekend.



I’m still processing all that we did during our days at this conference center in the woods of Germany and all that I observed while there, but I’d like to give you all a couple of thoughts while I’m still in that process. (I also learned to be a bit more cryptic in my writing, as the security of many of the people I spent time with is often in jeopardy)



-Jehovah God is the GREAT provider. I did not spend time w/ a single couple who questioned their calling to the Middle East. I felt on each family an overriding sense of spiritual peace and conviction that their lives were indeed in God’s hands. It was obvious that God had not only directed them to serve in the Middle East, but had also given them sufficient provision, emotionally as well as materially at every turn.



-Following God means blessing AND sacrifice. Face it. The upside is that there is no greater sense of peace than in living a life of obedience AND when you obey, you are shown the favor of the Lord.



-Worship lyrics take on a whole new meaning in this environment. Many of these families had been evacuated from their homes due to the conditions of war (mostly from Lebanon) and were now in the process of determining when they could return; if at all. War or not, these people loved their homes and loved the people with whom God had called them to live. Our morning and evening worship services were sometimes poignant, sometimes sweet, often triumphant and sometimes a desperate call to “remember your people, remember your children, remember your promise, O God!”.



-I was most deeply moved when I was able to sit w/ some of the children of these families and play my guitar. They looked so completely “normal”, but as they sang along w/ me I found my mind imagining what their stories were in these recent days. I was blessed to be able to get to know several of the little boys who were Jake and Brady’s age. A few were of Middle Eastern descent, but most of the others were from exotic lands such as Kentucky and Illinois. Chris became a “big brother” to many of the boys who loved the opportunity to wrestle and play swords. Light Sabers still rule!



-Thank you for your financial support. Including volunteers, there were about 260 of us in attendance all week. We didn’t charge anything for our CDs and gave one to every family that attended (about 90 CDs) AND all of our expenses were covered.



-Some great quotes from the week:

-“Missions exists around the world because worship does not”. John Piper.

-“Don’t pray for peace in the Middle East. Pray for the SALVATION of the Middle East”. A wife serving there for the past 18 years.

-“You people have thanked us for volunteering a week of our lives to come and serve you. You have volunteered your entire lives to serve. We should be thanking you”. Chris Adler, in our final session.