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January 31, 2008
Calvin College: Institutional Racism?
Here's a post I read this morning from Reconciliation Blog.
My dad just came back from Calvin College this weekend where he was attending the symposium on Worship. Calvin (and the CRC in general) strikes me as an institution that is into the idea of cultural diversity in the church (more than my own denomination's college perhaps). Some of their worship resources have that scholarly vibe of the patchwork quilt of diversity. So it seems odd to me that they would be so off the mark on this issue, and so apparently clueless about racial dynamics.
I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they probably see the issue as "one of our faculty members wants to worship at a BAPTIST (gasp!) church." But, of course, the reality is that this woman just wants to be in a church where she does not experience alienation on a weekly basis.
Lord, if only their were reformed churches in Grand Rapids that had anything to offer this African American woman. Lead us, Jesus!
-I'm interested to here Heidi's thoughts as an alumni of Calvin.
-I'm also interested to here my dad's take on the symposium.
-I'm surprised that Anthony over at the Institute hasn't written a post about it yet.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 7:39 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 30, 2008
New City Fellowship Music Team Ministry Report for 2007
New City Fellowship Choirs
2007 was the year that we saw the dream of a choir program realized. In the spring, the choirs were organized around the Black History Program and Resurrection Sunday. When the fall came around, there were enough singers to make the choir a more established team including a group of committed leaders.
Black History Program
In February, we had an amazing experience when we came together to worship Jesus through the voice and experience of African-Americans. This was a challenge to organize, but it was incredibly encouraging to all who came as well as a wonderful offering of worship.
Growth in South City
God answered many of my prayers when the South City service was blessed with two committed and visionary pastors and with being able to meet in a better facility. The musicians in South City are very thankful to be done with all of the frustrating circumstances surrounding our former location. We are also thankful for how the passionate and focused leadership of Kevin VandenBrink and Macklann Basse has given the entire worship service a boost.
London
I had the pleasure of taking a team of Music Team members to the London Evangelism and Prayer Conference in July. We were given the responsibility of leading the other conferees in worship sessions, and in addition to what we learned and experienced in evangelism, we all came back with a more confident approach to worship leading and greater appreciation for the fellowship of musicians who lead worship together.
Music Team Leadership
This year, I was finally able to get a better taste for team ministry by forming the Music Team Leadership. The Music Team is made up of over 50 volunteers including worship leaders, singers, instrumentalists, sound techs, and text operators. The Music Team Leadership is a small group of people from the Music Team who feel a more committed calling to serve the whole Music Team through leadership.
What to expect in 2008
• South City will develop a more localized music administration and worship planning.
• The choirs will continue to cast a vision for how they can be used for the Kingdom.
• More intentional and relational development of musically gifted leadership.
• Encouraging songwriters, artists, and musicians in our congregation to develop unique expressions of worship that reflect the kaleidoscope of sounds and images that represent New City Fellowship.
• Ward baby #2!
Posted by Kirk Ward at 9:19 AM | TrackBack
January 29, 2008
Sarah Shares The Gospel
Last night, Sarah got to meet one-on-one with one of the teenage girls that she disciples in a bible study. Sarah has been a leader with this small group for about 3 years now and it has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. She asked the girl a bunch of questions about what she believes, and then Sarah answered any questions that the girl had. Sarah found that this girl who had been faithfully coming to the bible study for a long time knew very little of the basic narrative of the bible, and she had a lot of mixed up ideas from our culture that were not based at all in Scriptural content. Of course, we all are like that (especially in high school). Overall, people today know very little about what the bible actually teaches (I say that as if I have actual stats, but I'm sure it's true. How post-modern!) Anyway, Sarah's responses to this girl's many questions were in effect a presentation of the gospel. It's hard not to share the gospel when people ask things about forgiveness, sin, the fall, and the resurrection of the dead.
I'm so proud of my wife and her faithfulness to speak the truth in love. Not only that, but all the hours and hours of building relationship that lead up to a conversation that was filled with trust and respect.
Pray for this girl to grow in her understanding of the gospel.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 6:38 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 28, 2008
MySpace Page
I finally have a myspace page. Check it out here.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 7:01 AM | TrackBack
January 27, 2008
2 New Songs on One Sunday!
I went with a risky decision to introduce 2 new songs on one Sunday. Actually, one of the two is the Chris Tomlin version of "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross" which is not really new. It just adds a new refrain that's really easy to pick up. Plus anyone under 40 in the church will probably know it already (at least the white folks).
The other new song is one I wrote back in 2003 that has been on the back burner until now. It is one from my post college period that was an extremely creative time for me because I was living on an extremely small income thanks to having connections in Chattanooga, and so most of my days were spent reading stimulating books, playing guitar, and writing songs. Having just completed my jazz studies, I wrote several songs that were more complex than the average worship tune including "Before I Knew", "Search Me", "Greater Is He Who Is In Us", and this morning's song "Rejoice In The Lord" which is based on Philippians 4:4,8,9. Here's the lyrics:
Whatever is true
Whatever is noble
Whatever is right
Whatever is pure
Whatever is lovely
Whatever is admirable
If anything is excellent
Or praiseworthy
Think about such things
Put 'em in to practice
And the God of peace
The God of peace
Will be with you.
Rejoice in the Lord always 4X
The groove is a kind of Steely Dan thing. If only St. Louis' own Michael McDonald could be here to sing back up!
Update: I just got back from church. The 2 songs went great! Sometimes I begrudge Tomlin for his success, but the refrain he wrote is really good. And my song went over pretty well despite not having Michael McDonald. That song might take a few more performances to really hit the congregation.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 7:15 AM | TrackBack
January 24, 2008
My Prayers Are Answered!
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional leaders reached a tentative deal with the White House Thursday on tax rebates starting at $600 apiece for most taxpayers and business tax cuts to jolt the slumping economy. Families with children could get even larger rebates.From STLToday.com
My money problems are solved! If only we had planned to have our baby a few months earlier.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 12:02 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 23, 2008
Recording Project '08: Despair
Friday's meeting was fun and extremely helpful. I got a lot of really good info and the studio is an excellent option. I spent about an hour talking with their chief engineer. A couple tips he gave:
-expect to spend 10 hours (recording+mixing) in the studio per song
-hiring pros saves time and so it might end up costing less in the long run
I got some more leads from my friend, Paul, who is going to a church that just did a recording with another studio.
Last night, my wife and I sorted out our money. We hadn't worked out the budget since October, so November and the dreaded December spending was not worked out until last night. Of course, 99% percent of the time when you sit down and look at how much you spend it can be really discouraging. (Ignorance is bliss!) On top of that, I had made a mistake in my Excel doc that made me think I had a few hundred dollars more than I actually did in my recording project fund. D'oh! I gave me an awful sinking feeling.
One thing I learned from my Friday meeting was that I have only saved about a third of the funds that I will need just to cover the studio fees. Throw in the costs of paying musicians, post-production, design, manufacturing, and marketing and it is really overwhelming.
To add salt to my wound, this morning I watched a video on Worship Matters where Bob Kauflin is talking about there latest recording which comes out this Spring. As I listened to him share about his recording I was filled with a powerful sense of bitter envy. I thought, "Listen to him talk about recording like it was just the easiest thing, like one morning he just got up and decided to just go ahead and do a recording." I started feeling helpless and hopeless. I thought, "I will never be able to record my songs unless I just make crappy little home recordings on some nasty old four track tape recorder that no one will hear or care about." I'm a little bit disgusted at what my heart was telling me. I hope you are a little disgusted, too. That would be the appropriate response to sin.
Soon I felt convicted of my sin and I began to realize what foul thoughts I had indulged. Why should I despise Sovereign Grace Ministries for the fact that they have spend years and years pursuing a ministry of producing worship music that is contemporary and Reformed? In Rory Noland's "Heart Of The Artist" he lists envy as one of the sins that artists are most prone to commit. I certainly fell prey to my sin this morning.
A couple weeks ago, MTW missionary Mark Berry preached a sermon on 2 Chronicles 20. It is one of my favorite stories in the bible. It's about Jehoshaphat, who trusted the Lord to fight his battle when a great army was coming to attack their nation. I like it because there is a lot of music in the story. In the story, Jehoshaphat cries out to God saying, "We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you." I've been trying to incorporate Jehoshaphat's prayer into a song I've been working on recently that is inspired by Albert King's "I'll Sing the Blues For You".
When I came into work this morning, I start to play this song that I've been working on and I was struck by how appropriate the song was to my present situation. My envy came because I completely lost perspective of who God is, who He has made me to be, and what He's doing in me. I realized that I have no idea what to do about this recording. I have no idea how we'll come up with the money to produce it or what will come of it after it is done. Instead of putting my eyes on the Lord, I looked at the impossible circumstances, at my own selfish ambitions, at the success of someone else, at the choices I've made in the past that have made this process more difficult.
Lord, I don't know what to do...I've been looking in the wrong direction...help me to put my eyes on you.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 10:48 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 22, 2008
Heath Ledger Died Today
This article says that Ledger was found dead today "with prescription sleeping pills nearby." Here's a quote from when he was working on "Dark Night", the next Batman movie in which he plays the Joker.
"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told the newspaper. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He said he took two Ambien pills, which worked for only an hour, the paper said.
This sounds like a man who was desperate for rest. Heath was my age. He was a pretty decent actor; it's very tragic.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 9:32 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Short and Sweet Reviews
KT Tungstal - Eye to the Telescope
Soulful and hip, but not particularly a major keeper. I like the second half of the CD when the songs get less tweaked and are more straight forward.
Buena Vista Social Club
Very relaxing. My wife likes it too which means that it can be played during dinner preparation.
They Might Be Giants - Here Come The ABCs
An instant classic. My daughter is obsessed. The only downside: the songs get stuck in my head really easily and then start playing in my brain in the middle of the night.
James Ward - No Violence
My new favorite because of the "No Violence"- "He Shall Be Satisfied" combo.
The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
I haven't listened to it enough to soak it all up. Here's my first impression: it's iPod music. There's so much texture that would be lost coming out of your car speakers. I need to listen more to get a sense of the songs themselves. My first few passes have just left me with the textures.
Bonus Book Review- Treasure Island
Yarg! Shiver me timbers! I can't wait till my kids are old enough that we can read this book together.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 7:35 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 20, 2008
Veggie Interview: Failure, Preaching on Film, and Parables
This interview was really cool. The creator of Veggie Tales talks about how his hubris bankrupt the Veggie Machine and he talks about making the new Pirates movie in the post-Passion Hollywood. He's really frank about how frustrating it is to make movies for a "Christian Audience" who seem to want the message to be so blatantly obvious that you would expect a character to turn to the camera and say, "Now let me tell you about Jesus and His plan for your life..."
Posted by Kirk Ward at 2:13 PM | TrackBack
January 19, 2008
Bill Edgar's Live CD w/ Patituchi
William Edgar is a prof at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philly. He also plays jazz piano and some how got John Patituchi to play in this fundraiser. The CD also features Ruth Naomi Floyd and Joe Salzano.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 1:02 PM | TrackBack
January 18, 2008
Recording Project '08
Here's an update on the recording project that I am undertaking in 2008.
The are several doors that are opening through God's provision that have a lot of potential. A friend of mine in Chattanooga found out from my dad that I am considering my options, and he contacted me offering to help with the project. He's done several recordings (though he doesn't have a lot of experience with vocalist) but he is willing to work for peanuts just to be able to build up his portfolio. Another friend here in St Louis has a basement full of recording gear that he offered to lend to our church so it can be put into use. I would need a lot of help learning how to use it, but it would basically be completely free for my creative juices to flow.
On another front, I am going to tour a local studio and meet with some of their staff this morning. They are pretty swanky and so I am intimidated by how pricey it might be to do stuff there. Still, I need to evaluate my options, and hit the streets looking for what's available out there.
I don't have time to share all of the pros and cons of self-recording vs. going with a pro studio. I am currently leaning toward a mix of both, so stay tunned. If anyone out there in blog-land has a St Louis studio (not just a buddy who plays with loops on GarageBand) to recommend, please let me know.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 10:38 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 16, 2008
Kanye West and Hip Hop in our Church
I bought a few of Kanye West's songs from iTunes this week and I have to say that I really like them. I've been a little skeptical because of the controversy that surrounds him. Before I heard his songs, I only knew about him as a guy who said a bunch of inflammatory things about President Bush. But, I am glad that I went ahead and went deeper to actually listen to his music. It's good stuff.
I wish that my church could do more to understand hip-hop and to be more open to that culture. We interact with and minister to youth from the inner city who are all into hip-hop as a cultural lifestyle, and yet it seems like our music, our ways of communicating, our attire, and our attitude is not very hip-hop oriented. It seems very hypocritical that we would make such a strong effort to incorporate African, Latino, or Asian culture into ours, and yet we leave hip-hop out of that process.
You might be thinking that it's a race issue at this point, but I would disagree. We haven't reached a state of perfect harmony between Blacks and Whites in our church, but we've done a lot to embrace Black music and culture. However, it is a different generation, the boomers, that we've been focused on. There are a lot of Black boomer folk who can't stand hip-hop and until they start to reach out to the next generation, there's not much that I can do. (Julia Richer is doing a great job of embracing hip-hop with our youth choir.)
As we get ready for our annual Black History Program, I hope that we can reach out at least a little bit to the hip-hop culture. At this year's program, we'll have a guest musician, Dishon Knox, who is a student at Covenant Seminary (here's a rap that Dishon wrote about the Presbyterian Church of America). I'm glad he's helping us. I'm sure it will be an awkward moment as the normally boisterous NCF crowd becomes uncomfortable with how to respond to this music, but of course, awkward moments are a natural result of ministering across cultures.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 9:58 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 14, 2008
Fear and Reckless Abandon
This Sunday morning I woke up thinking about the fear of the Lord. Several of the classic worship related stories in the bible have a lot to do with fear and reckless abandon. Oddly, they seem to go hand in hand. I guess it's about who they are afraid of and how they express that in worship. Let me illustrate.
David's dance is one of the most often refer to texts about worship (2 Samuel 6). In the story, David, the king, is trying to get the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem, but in transit, a priest is struck dead by God's wrath for touching this sacred object. David as a result is filled with so much fear at the awesome holiness and power of Yahweh that he dances in his underwear. When his wife is embarrassed by his reckless abandonment, David says a great line, "I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes." (Matt Redmen has a great song called "Undignified" based on David's response.)
I thought of a few other similar stories. Hannah who is mistaken for being drunk, Mary Magdalene who washed Jesus feet with perfume, and the Apostles at Pentecost are great examples of people doing bold and strange things out of a response to being struck with fear of the Lord.
Why is it that when folks talk about "reverence" before the Lord, they usually mean being quiet and controlled? It seems that a lot of times in scripture, when people get a glimpse of how holy and awesome the Lord is, they start to shout, dance, or weep. They seem to forget about being embarrassed and begin to act like fools. Their fear is placed where it should be, on the Lord, and not on the people who look on.
That's a nice thing to meditate on before a Sunday morning worship service. Way too much of the time I'm really more afraid of what people think of me, how I look, how the music sounds, etc. It was a great Sunday to dance around and act a fool before the Lord.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 2:16 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 9, 2008
New Websites
My dad now has entered the blog world by creating Morning Sun. Please check it out, especially the post titled "Leland".
My wife has also renamed her craft business and set up a swanky new website thanks to bro-in-law, Erik. The new name is Little Knots and the website is www.littleknots.com. So easy to remember!
The previously mentioned brother in law also has a new website for reporting acts of violence from post-election Kenya. Check it out here.
By the way, I discovered a cool thing this past week: Google Reader. It's designed to set up a bunch of feeds from blogs and websites so you can see whenever one is updated. It sure beats going through every blog of my friends and family looking for any updates. With Reader, they come to me like emails in an inbox. Well, Google, I suppose you don't need my free advertising, but there it is.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 10:33 AM | TrackBack
January 4, 2008
Music I Got For Christmas
K T Tunstall - Eye to the Telescope
This is a nice Pop CD that has a processed acoustic type sound.
Ry Cooder - Buena Vista Social Club
A classic that I've never owned. It's relaxing like a nice Mojito.
They Might Be Giants - Here Come The ABC's
(this is actually a CD/DVD combo for Joanna)
I also received a set of every recording that my dad, James Ward, made before the 1998 "James Ward Live" recording. You can buy them on his website.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 12:19 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 3, 2008
Scripture for the New Year
"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." -Psalm 116:7
This is my theme verse for the upcoming year which I have added to the banner of my blog. It's short and simple to remember when I am having a rough time. I am planning on reciting it to myself during sleepless nights as I rock my son back to sleep. I plan on remembering it in times of anxiety at work. I plan on meditating on it when I get lost in the daily bustle.
On of the great blessings that the Lord gives us is rest. It was one of the first things He instituted in our lives after He created the universe. He set aside a whole day of the week for us to just chill out and relax. He wants us to be able to stop and enjoy the lives He has blessed us with. Worship is rest. It is a time to cease striving and to meditate on God's goodness. Pagan gods demand that their worship be about how much are you willing to suffer and toil to show your reverence. But, the worship of the true God is more like a big feast like the one in the parable of the prodigal son. We stand at the throne and celebrate that Jesus has opened the way into the Father's prefect rest.
I had a wonderful time of rest this past week with my family. Most of our time was spent at a house out in the country where my wife's family congregated and relaxed together. There were whole days where I never left the house and I just relaxed. I learned how to solve the Rubik's cube. I wrote a song. I played with my daughter and nieces. I slept in. It was a taste of heaven.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 10:07 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack