Posts under ‘How To’

Isaiah 60:1-6 from russell martin on Vimeo
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Our contemporary worship service as well as our traditional service follow the lectionary. The lectionary usually provides four different scriptures for each Sunday that follow a theme. In the traditional service we have typically used one for the main scripture the sermon is based on, and then [...]

This was my first attempt to do one of those cool fast forward time lapse videos you see around. I took a camera and set it on top of our china hutch before we ate our Christmas Dinner. Then I took the video and used Windows Movie Maker to speed up the footage. Cut it [...]

Here are two cross backgrounds that you can use for worship slides, web pages or whatever. The original photo of the “message cross” is the big white cross at Peace Chapel of Lakeview Methodist Conference Center where I have spent many many weeks leading music for youth camps. The original picture for “Hanging Cross” was [...]

Ever since I have been at our church we have had the idea to record a worship CD. We are wanting to do something as a praise team using both original and already recorded worship songs that our congregation has grown to love. So what advice, tips or tricks do you have to share with [...]

This past weekend I attended the National Youth Workers Convention in Nashville Tennessee. While there I was able to sit in the congregation while being led in worship by some awesome worship leaders like David Crowder, Mercy Me, Shane and Shane and Starfield. The music was awesome, the videos and screens were great, the stage [...]

Today in our youth band we were playing Blessed Be Your Name. Since we knew the song very well I decided to use the song for an experiment. I started the intro but was playing the song in 6/8 instead of 4/4. It took on a swing/waltz type feel. The band came in and played [...]

Have you ever been reading the bible and come across a passage that told you to do something, and you thought there is NO WAY that this can be followed today? Here is one such passage for me
Ephesians 4:29 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful [...]

Leading a youth band is hard. It’s even harder if you are having to lead from the drumset. My friend Jason Huffman who has guest posted here before is looking for some advice in this area. Check out his post and leave a comment.
Jason’s guest posts include
Buying a Drumset
Working with Drummers
Embracing Technology with Youth Bands

One of the coolest things I have done is to sit down with a team and brainstorm about ideas for a worship service. To take a topic or scripture, or point and find creative ideas that help others experience God in a new way. I have done this before in a small team within my [...]

This summer I spent four weeks gone during the week and would come home on weekends. During that time we decided as a band to only use songs we knew really well, and to just meet up early on Sunday mornings to rehearse. This gave the band a break from Wednesday rehearsals and created a [...]