Do you know John Mark McMillan? If not, you should. He’s semi-well known as the writer/original singer of “How He Loves,” an absolutely amazing song that’s been covered by about a billion artists in the past five months or so.

Anyhow, figured I’d introduce him to you in case you didn’t know him. His music is in a word, real. Very gritty, down-to-earth and real. Anyhow, saw this video and figured I’d share it:

John Mark McMillan – Skeleton Bones from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

Tweet
Category: Christian Music
2 Comments »

I was going to make an economic stimulus package joke, but I feel like that’s already getting played out. So here it is: good, free music.

It’s kind of hard to find good, independent-sounding Christian music these days. The stuff on the radio really doesn’t do it for me at all.

Anyhow, I stumbled on the website NoseTrade.com a few months ago…it’s pretty cool.

Basically artists will put their music up on NoiseTrade for free download, provided you tell email five of your friends about it.

Honestly from a marketing standpoint it’s brilliant, because artists get exposure, the website gets exposure, and we get free music.

Here’s some good stuff you should download, all of it available for free on NoiseTrade.

The Glorious Unseen: Cries of the Broken EP

The Glorious Unseen is one of my favorite new bands. The songs are incredibly heartfelt and reflective. If I were to write songs on my prayers as of late, this is what it would sound like.

Lovelite: All Color

Pretty good stuff. It’s got an energetic, poppy feel to it. Definitely worth a download.

The Ember Days: The Ember Days EP

Definitely a different sound than what I’m used to, but I think I like it I’m pretty sure they’re from New Zealand, but I could be wrong.

Re:Sound : Rain City Hymnal EP

This is actually a collection of music from bands that lead worship at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Definitely a West-Coast, Seattle vibe to it. Good stuff.

Anyhow, thought I’d share something that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the past few weeks.

What music are you listening to?

Tweet
Category: Christian Music
2 Comments »

Fun news…McLean Bible Church has a new website!

We’ve been working around the clock the past few weeks to get it up and running, and today was the “official” launch. It’s still got some bugs to work out, but it’s almost all there!

Props to ALW for leading the process. It was definitely a long time coming, but it’s certainly worth it!

For me, the best part is the new Internet Campus Website. We’ve got some space to do some cool videos, integrate some social media, and generally look great!

Check out the new Internet Campus page:

Top (“above the fold”)

Bottom (“below the fold”)

Tweet
Category: Random
5 Comments »

Ok, here’s a question that’s very practical for me.

My job requires me to work every Sunday service that we have. Honestly, I don’t get a chance to really pay too close attention to the service, and I’m certainly not worshiping.

That’s ok. I’m fine with that.

I go to the Monday night Arlington service, but during the service I run the Keynote program (PowerPoint for all you non-mac users out there) during the worship and the sermon.

My question is: is this ok?

Should I have a service where I don’t “do” anything? Or is it better that during my “worship” service (the Monday night service) I’m busy serving?

I’m particularly curious as to the answers of those of you who are worship leaders and production people.

I honestly see it two ways. On the one hand, I think that it can be good to have a time to relax and focus on God during worship. On the other hand, I think that it could be a byproduct of our consumerist, TV-obsessed culture that makes us feel like we need to have someone essentially deliver it to us with no effort on our part.

Tweet
Category: Thoughts on Ministry
7 Comments »