Music

Seminary Update – October 2011

Today’s post is for my church family, as I promised to give periodic updates regarding my studies. Thus far, my experience with Sioux Falls Seminary has been overwhelmingly positive – few times in my life have I ever felt such a strong sense that I’m right where God wants me to be.

Here’s a quick overview of what I’ve been up to:

This semester, I’m taking two classes: Biblical Foundations of Sermon Preparation, and Introduction to Spiritual Formation and Vocation. Sermon prep is all about the basics of preaching, and the Spiritual Formation class is focused on self-care. In addition to learning practical information that I’ve been able to implement at church, I am also learning a lot about living a healthy spiritual life.

Last Friday, I was asked to speak and perform at the seminary’s board of trustees dinner here in Omaha. I shared a bit of my story (which you can read about here), performed an original song, and finished with the song Jesus Paid It All. I received a lot of affirmation from the seminary’s representatives that night; they truly care for their students, which means a lot to me.

And here are a couple ways to support me:

Prayer. I cannot stress how important this is. Although I feel that I’m up to the challenge, the reality is that being in full-time ministry and taking graduate-level classes at the same time means more work and more stress. Please pray that I will trust in Christ alone to provide the spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial stability needed to complete my studies. I don’t want to simply survive seminary; I want to thrive. I know this is only possible with your help. Please remember to pray for me regularly.

Financial Support. Through Sioux Falls Seminary’s LIFE Fund program, you have the opportunity to make a tax-deductible donation toward my educational expenses. While I am grateful that the church is providing some support for my education through the general fund, this only covers a fraction of the total cost. Your support will help me “bridge the gap” between my current income and the costs required to attend seminary, allowing me to concentrate on my studies without becoming distracted.

Please consider giving to the LIFE Fund (and thank you to those of you who already have!). If you’re interested in providing financial support, please contact me and I’ll be happy to pass along some literature. If you choose to contribute to the LIFE Fund, any giving should be above and beyond what you currently give to your church. I do not want to take away from anyone’s tithe or other commitments.

That’s it for now…for my next update, I plan to share some of my coursework so you can get a “taste” of what I’m doing.

Thanks for reading, and thanks so much for investing your friendship, your money, your time, and – most importantly – your prayers in this endeavor. I am moving forward in faith, trusting that God will guide me every step of the way!

Omaha Collective’s Christmas EP

Well, this was unexpected.

About a year ago, I got together with my good friends Jared Kliewer, David Potter, and Cody Villarreal to record some Christmas songs for our friends and family. It was very much a “just for fun” project; we tracked everything in one afternoon in the basement of a church friend’s lake house. As you can see from the photos below, there was nothing glamorous about the recording process – we just set everything up and hit record:

We put the songs on Noisetrade so we could share the music with as many people as possible. About 100 people downloaded it, and our friends and families loved it. Success. The end, right?

Not so fast. We discussed taking the music down earlier this year, but I never got around to it. There’s plenty of albums, EPs and samplers buried behind the frontpage of Noisetrade, so I left it online in case anyone ever went looking our music again. If nothing else, we had someone hosting the music for us in case we ever lost it ourselves.

Well, you can imagine our surprise when we all checked our e-mail yesterday and found this promotional message in our inboxes:

Was it random? Did someone like our music? We don’t know, but we’re thankful for the plug. Since the e-mail was sent yesterday, our EP has been downloaded more than 1,000 times!

Today is Thanksgiving, and I couldn’t be more grateful for our music to be reaching so many people. However you ended up reading this post, thank you for your support! If you found us through Noisetrade, we’d love to hear from you: we made a page on Facebook where you an connect with us. I’m especially curious as to whether any worship leaders are planning to use our arrangements during Advent.

Happy Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas!

For those of you who are interested in knowing a little more about the Omaha Collective, here’s a quick rundown of who we are and what we do:

Jared is a worship leader for Christ Community Church‘s Sarpy campus in Bellevue, NE. He played guitar and sang for our EP.

David is a worship leader, formerly of Christ Community Church, who just relocated to St. Louis to attend Covenant Theological Seminary. He recently released an album of hymns and original worship songs. Visit davidpmusic.com for more information, and grab his free download of Come Thou Long Expected Jesus on Noisetrade. He played acoustic guitar, drums, bass, and sang for our EP. He also engineered and mixed everything.

Cody is a worship leader for Journey Church in Gretna, NE. He played electric guitar, mandolin, and sang for our EP.

I, Mike, am a worship leader for Community Covenant Church in Omaha, NE. I play in a band called Flight Metaphor, and we also have free music on Noisetrade. I played acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums, and sang for our EP.

And oh yeah…in case you haven’t yet, you can download the EP below:

David Potter’s “Man of Sorrows, Glorious King”

My good friend David Potter just released an album of worship songs and hymns called Man of Sorrows, Glorious King. I’ve known David since I was in high school, and I’ve been bugging him to put out a record ever since. The wait is over, and I’m happy to recommend this CD to anyone who likes quality worship music. Church worship leaders will especially enjoy this project, as it gives a fresh take on some familiar tunes (I’m especially fond of the two-step feel on “Be Thou My Vision”). The original titles are also accessible and suitable for congregational worship.

Unlike many worship projects, this CD isn’t just a few “hits” surrounded by deficient fluff. Every track stands on its own, with top-notch production and some of the best musicianship I’ve ever heard on a local project. The proof is in the pudding: click here to download the song, “All Creatures of Our God and King,” for free on Noisetrade.

Here’s some basic information about the record, from David:

Man of Sorrows Glorious King is a full length record of both hymn re-workings and original songs for corporate worship.  My hope is to see this collection of songs and hymns serve to remind the church of the beauty and wonder of the Gospel; that a perfect and Holy God would become man, take on the punishment we deserved at the cross, and rise again as the conquering King who offers salvation and new life to His children.

Isaiah 53:3-5 says this about Jesus:

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.  Like one from    whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought  us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

Not the picture of Jesus we tend to remember, is it? And yet Jesus’ humility and lowering of Himself “even to death” was a huge part of what made His sacrifice on our behalf acceptable to the Father.  Because Jesus was fully man, God could accept his death for sin as if we ourselves were on the cross, but because he was fully God, His offering was perfected in a way that could have never been offered by sin-stained humans.

And as we know, Jesus (and our) story didn’t end at the Cross.  Jesus is the Reigning King, having conquered the grave.  He is seated at the right hand of the Father “in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph 1).  This is the great and glorious King we worship!

The idea behind Man of Sorrows Glorious King is to unpack the tension that the title suggests.  That we would wrestle with the weight of what it cost God to make His glory available to us, and then respond to who He is and what He has done for us with passionate, devoted worship.

Click here to download the record on iTunes. Or, if your’e like me, you’ll want to order a physical copy here.

For more information about David, visit davidpmusic.com