I would usually post a video here, and I did record a video, but I can’t find the stupid cable to get the stupid video off the stupid camera. I’m not frustrated at all . However, since I record the audio directly into the computer and sync it with the video, I do in fact have the audio, so I will at least post that.

I used my electric this week instead of my acoustic and I also threw in an ambient “pad” in the background that was made by this dude, who blogs about guitar and worship. Thanks for the pad, I’ll be using it Sunday!

Anyway, I really like this song and it fits perfectly with the sermon series that we’re in. Give it a listen below and check out the lyrics as well. I hope you’ll dig it.

As usual, I only give this one take because I don’t have time to do a real recording, so please be forgiving of my singing and a couple of wrong chords.

We’ll be starting off worship with this Sunday morning. It’s a super easy song and will likely be familiar to some of you.

Oh yeah, some of you may remember my new delay pedal…I decided to figure it out a little more and I recorded this video using the pedal which is why it’ll sound a little weird (weird but hopefully good!).

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Hopefully this isn’t surprising or weird to you if you’ve been able to catch the Advent Conspiracy sermon series at Origins. Whether you know exactly what I’m talking about or this is brand new, I wanted to remind everyone of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. First of all, watch this:

Over these last few weeks we have explored what it would look like to give and love like Jesus by spending and receiving less. There has been a lot of good ideas for how to do this individually and relationally, but in addition, a great way of doing this as a church body. By partnering with World Vision, we are able to purchase goats for $75 each. These goats go to impoverished nations and help to fulfill a multitude of needs. They provide milk for drinking, cheese, and other food products for the families that receive them. The excess can be sold as well, which provides income. Eventually, the goats will meet, perhaps in a bar or on a social networking site, which inevitably leads to baby goats. Baby goats, of course, can also be sold for income. It’s a gift that keeps on giving and we’re very excited about the response we’ve been receiving.

Here’s how this will work on Sunday… There will be two offerings: the goat offering which will fall at some point in the middle of the sermon, then our regular offering. Pray that God will give you a heart to worship through offering, and pray that what we are able to give as a church will go create real and tangible change for the families who receive the goats.

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This week, however, it was live and it was obvious, albeit quite funny.  It had nothing to do with the sound system itself, but instead with a new delay pedal I just bought.  It added a really cool dynamic to the acoustic sound this week and I definitely plan on using it again, but I need to learn a few things about it first.  I had literally messed with this thing for a grand total of 15 minutes before Sunday morning and when I switched to the wrong patch in between songs, it became pretty obvious I didn’t know what I was doing.

The best part is when I leaned down to fix it and said “that was weird.”  Well, my guitar has a mic in it that picked up my voice and with the endless repeat that seemed to be on the pedal, everyone got to hear my “that was weird” over and over and over until I unplugged the pedal to turn it off.  I wanted to relive that moment and give you the same opportunity, as well as let people in on what they missed.  With no further ado, I present to you: “That was weird weird weird weird POP” by me, Jason Carroll. Listen carefully for my old man wheezing laugh.

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So why bring this up? Well, it really does have me thinking about what songs we sing, what they say, if they’re biblical, and whether or not I can relate. We’re introducing a song called “It is You” this week that I hope and pray doesn’t disgust anyone, isn’t cheesy, and speaks truth. It’s a pretty simple song…lyrics like ~”will you meet us here? we have come to worship you. god of mercy and grace. it is you praises are for”, etc. There is, however, something that the conservative backgrounded peeps may not be used to, “As we life up our hands…” To expand on point #5 above, if I ask you to lift your hands, it’s not because it’s a proper way to do things and it’s not to try and conjure some emotion that wouldn’t otherwise be there. Instead, I think there’s something to be said of us taking a certain posture towards God. In scripture we see bowing on knees, face to the ground, jumping and dancing, lifting of hands, quiet reflection, and more. I believe as we get out of our comfort zones, we create the potential to encounter God in a unique way. Come Sunday morning, you’re free to sit, stand, kneel, jump, or whatever you want…but I encourage you during this song in particular to try lifting your hands. If you relate at all to the blogger, then singing something that isn’t true probably won’t sit well with you. So singing, “as we lift up our hands” while we’re all standing there twiddling our thumbs is a tad silly, isn’t it? Again, I’m not going to force anyone into anything, but I don’t want us to be a congregation that just goes through the motions. I suppose the other option is to metaphorically lift your hands, or perhaps to just not sing those lyrics.

I first heard this song done by The Stillpoint Band down at Hill Country SW and it always engaged me in worship. Unfortunately, the only recorded version I could find out there was by the Newsboys and I don’t like it at all. But rest assured, it should make for a great song Sunday morning! Check it out below, but a little disclaimer: I just recorded this during my lunch break and thus didn’t bother to set up a mic and plug in my guitar. The audio is straight from the camera so won’t sound as good as usual. I also widened the lens angle so you’ll have to see my face on this one…I heard that just the guitar was awkward, but this feels more awkward for me!

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