Colombia Trip

I am going to do a quick recap and decompression of my last 5 days. So get ready for all my random thoughts. I was in Colombia, South America in Medellín (population: over 3 million), 2nd largest city in Colombia, and 66th largest city in the world. It is situated 7 degrees from the Equator, meaning it lives up to its nickname: "The City of Eternal Spring." Its terrain is mostly mountainous and it literally abounds with fresh fruits, vegetables, and plant life. 

We partnered with Christ For the Nations and worked with them to minister in Medellín and Santa Rita, a small mountain village outside of Medellín. 

I have never seen such passion for worship. I was amazed every time we were in worship, whether we were leading it or a Colombian team was leading. 

As a musician, being passionate on stage as an act of worship is my thing. I want that. I want to play harder, dance more, and expound more energy every night I pick up an instrument. My passion for worshiping God on my instrument is what drives me musically. 

I cannot make a distinction between touring playing rock in bars and playing worship in a church. There is no line for me. It is all worship. I have been told that there is a difference. But I defy anyone who would say that there is a difference. The Spirit of God inhabits both. The love for the people I play for is genuine. The joy is evident. The peace in my life is constant. 

That said, I saw people react to worship with a passion that made me feel like a statue. When all the breakable stage decorations are removed from a stage before the worship starts, you know it is going to be good. The Colombian worship team had all the fervor of The Chariot and the musical perfection of U2. They were so good. The crowd was insane, complete with mosh pits and crowd surfing. I was humbled by how small my passions are, not just for worship, but for life. 

"We worship intensely because if there is no passion, then there is no worship. If you don't want to truly worship, don't come to God. I want to put my face next to God's face." - a Colombian youth

When I heard this, I tried to think of Biblical examples of leading worship. There are no Biblical New Testament records. The only singular example that I could readily find was 2 Samuel 2:6. When the Ark of the Covenant (which represented God's presence on earth) was brought into the city, King David exchanged his kingly robes for a priestly (worship leader) robe and led the people yelling, singing, and dancing. So much so that his wife said he was crazy.

I want that. Not just for me, but for my friends who lead worship. 

II Samuel 2:6:

"²¹...I will celebrate before the LORD. ²² I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes."

Whenever I travel to another country in the world, I come to a fresh realization: 

My cross is prosperity; my sin is self-reliance. 

That seems to contradict itself, but it is true. I lose sight of reliance on Christ. I am dangerously independent and know that if I work hard enough, I can accomplish and acquire anything I want. This is true because we live in a country of incredible opportunity. I have traveled all over South America and Europe and have found that anyone living in America can accomplish anything they put their minds to. This is a wonderful thing, but a better balance of my spiritual humility and professional drive must be sought. 

Those are my thoughts for now. More later! 

Studio update - 2/5/2011

I have been told that my blogs are very "informational." Apparently, my blog needs to have some stories and emotion. And sarcasm does not qualify as emotion. Who knew? Not this guy. 

So update here: we are in the studio. Recording. Joe is actually recording the last drum track as I type this. I am a good engineer. Checkin' levels and stuff. Nope. I am blogging. This song has a lot of close mics and the preamps are cranked because Joe is using brushes for this sweet little ditty. I have a sneaking suspicion when I listen back, I will hear the clicking of the keyboard through the overhead mics that are picking up the room noise. I am going to leave it in there too. 

I am finding myself a little strapped for time to finish the album. I did not expect such a busy February and that puts me behind on mixing. We want to have the album out by March/April tour. But I do not think that will happen. I am taking a group a youth group kids to lead worship at a youth conference in Columbia, South America February 17-23. That is awesome, but 5 days of not mixing is a lot of time. For me, that equals 40-50 hours not working on the album. 

Plus, the financial strain of paying for tour expenses and taking care of some bills does not leave anything to press CDs. That is how it goes. You get an album done and cannot even press it if you want to tour. We can always hope that diesel fuel will drop to around a $1.10/gal. I do not see why that is unreasonable. Oh wait. Yes, I do. Oil tycoons need to their quarterly $1,000,000 bonuses. I mean, come on. We would not want to deprive them of that. 

So bottom line, we are looking at a digital release in March and pressing the album in May. Unless (and we never rule this out!) there is a financial/time miracle. 

The album itself is sounding great. I am very excited to get it out and see what the response is. We have had such great response to our live shows. I am hoping that carries over. I think the ideas and different things that I have thrown out in the studio have stretched the guys a lot. Musically and technically, it is a very focused album. It has a lot of hooks, harmonies, technical drum fills, and string/synth parts. 

Aside from that, we have thrown around an idea of a yearly worship EP. Probably just a short production run and digital release. We keep coming back to it. I think that is another facet we need to explore. 

I have instrumentally finished my own solo album. I am starting lyrics. It has been a couple years in the making. I have not written lyrics in a year, so I have some songs lurking around that need life. It is very epic, orchestral, and has a lot of electronic aspects to it. Very little guitar work, if you can believe that. I play guitar all the time. I wanted something else. 

So there is your informational, sarcastic, lifeless blog! Cheers!