The time has come to try out the self-hosted version of WordPress, so I’m moving.

I’ve closed comments on this site, but feel free to go to the new site and add a comment there.

Also, please take a moment to update your blogroll links and your feed reader subscriptions.

See you there!

I just wanted to point out a few new links in the blogroll on the right…

• One Moment – Steffanie Oltmans — check out Steff’s Sunday Setlist each week
• The Life of  a Worshipper – Johnny Sierra –  Johnny has some interesting things to say and is also a regular participant in Sunday Setlists
• Between Nut and Saddle – Keith Barger — I like this guy because we have the same red One-Star’s and he says some something challenging things
• Cries of the Heart – Paul Joseph — another Sunday Setlist guy with interesting perspectives

There are good ones, bad ones, and overused ones. 

Andrea wants Kimberly Hoy to sing I Can Only Imagine at her funeral, and she wants Amazing Grace played on the bagpipes.  I’m not sure what I want.  Nothing overused.  No canned karaoke music.  No organ.

So, I’ve compiled a list of funeral songs that I’ve seen or heard about or that I’m merely suggesting.  There are some good ones and some less stellar ones, so I’ve also added my comments for your reading pleasure. 

Please chime in with your ideas or thoughts.

The list got kind of long as I worked on it for several days and asked a few people for suggestions…

• I Can Only Imagine – Mercy Me (Getting to be overused?)
• In Better Hands – Natalie Grant (Not my style, but a great funeral song.)
• Thank You – Ray Boltz (So 1980′s…  I would strongly advise against not using it.)
• The Dance – Garth Brooks (If you’re into that sort of thing; I’m not.)
• Hello Again – Petra (This song could be pretty appropriate.  I only want it at my funeral if John Schlitt will come and sing it!)
• See You In Heaven – Guardian (I played this at a funeral last year.  Great song!)
• Wind Beneath My Wings – Bette Midler (I’ve threatened to come back and haunt my wife as a poltergeist for the rest of her life if she has someone sing this at my funeral.  I loathe Bette Midler!)
• Born to Be Wild – Steppenwolf (Only appropriate at biker funerals.)
• Amazing Grace (It’s a classic.  Bagpipes get bonus points.)
• Because He Lives (This hymn is used a lot, but I wouldn’t vote for it.)
• Home – Daughtry (Andrea’s vote for the perfect funeral song.)
• Love You ‘Til the End – The Pogues (Andrea wants this one at my funeral.  Nice touch!  I’d be okay with that.)
• In the Garden (A classic hymn.  I think my grandmother once told me that my grandfather wants this at his funeral.)
• Candle In the Wind – Elton John (Only if you’re a princess…)
• Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) – Greenday (An excellent choice!)
• Who Wants to Live Forever – Queen  (Hmmm… Not sure if it would work or not.)
• In the Blink of an Eye – Mercy Me (My wife’s suggestion; I can’t stand the song personally.)
• Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton (That would be a tough one to pull off…)
• Come to Jesus – Chris Rice  (My wife’s suggestion.)
• Go Rest High on That Mountain - Vince Gill (A good one for you country fans.)
• Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone) – Cinderella (My friend Dawn says this was used in her brother’s funeral.)
• Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – Monty Python (Hmmm…  Probably not.)
• There Will Be a Day – Jeremy Camp (Not a big Jeremy Camp fan, but this could work…)

For more funeral song ideas… check out MyFunkyFuneral.com, this article about an Australian funeral provider, and this post on The Best and Worst Funeral Songs.

And finally, thanks go out to Andrea, Heather, Dawn, and Clara for their suggestions.

Please add a comment with your thoughts on the list or any other funeral song ideas you have!

The study begins January 12.

For more information, check out Fred McKinnon’s blog and get the details on how to join in.  It’s not too late.

It came out really cool.  I suck at embedding video so you’ll have to click on the link to check it out.

http://www.vimeo.com/2722011

I decided that I wanted people to see me as a bit of a maverick – someone who doesn’t always play by the rules and isn’t overly concerned what people think about me.  I want to be the guy in the back of the room that only speaks up from time to time and says the oddest things… but is usually right!

“Be a maverick” has kind of stuck in my head.

Just in case you’re insanely curious (like me), here’s an interesting Mental Floss post on the origin of the word.

Since last May, I’ve been writing my personal leadership philosophy.  As I was editing it today, I noticed the phrase “strive to be a maverick”.

As I’m sure you are well aware, “maverick” has become a bit overused lately.  In fact, Lake Superior State University has added “maverick” to it’s 2009 list of banned words. 

So… thanks to John McCain and Sarah Palin, I’m having to revise my leadership philosophy. 

Thanks a lot!!!  Makes me feel even better about voting for the other guy.

It used to be a such good word…

This morning at GracePoint, I was on the sound board once again.  Here’s the view from the board (I apologize for the crappy quality.)

The Setlist:

• Elevation by U2 (walk-in)
• One Way by Hillsong United
• Hold You High by By the Tree
• Mighty to Save by Hillsong
• Word of God Speak by Kutless
• Rise Above This by Seether (offering)

Elevation – This was the first time for Elevation.  I was a little concerned about the complexity of this one, but it turned out phenomonal.  I took some video of the second service, but discovered when I got home that my camera was set on “compact video” for some stupid reason.  It’s not worth posting at postage stamp resolution…  Awesome job guys!

One Way – I think this was the first time that Christina had ever sang One Way.  She did a great job.  Fun song.  I love the bridge!

Hold You High – A great song.  Mike does a great job singing this one.

Mighty to Save – We play it more like the original Hillsong version on the “Mighty to Save” album, rather than Hillsong United on ” The I Heart Revolution” album that came out last year.  The guitar parts are cooler, although Rod usually covers the beginning guitar riff on keys.  Good song.  I really like the dynamics.  Mike got everyone singing a capella at the end.  Very nice.

Word of God Speak – The Kutless version is way cooler than the Mercy me version, so that’s what we have alway used.  Deric is awesome on this song with all of the tom-tom work, and his patent-pending “trash can” cymbal sounds awesome at the begginning.  Especially after I added a lot of delay and reverb to it.  Another great song.

Rise Above This – This song is perfectly suited to Gil’s voice.  Great dynamics as it goes from calm to screamo in the chorus.  This song is becoming a bit of a staple.  And that’s a good thing.  (I got some very low resolution video during sound check on this one too…)

As an added bonus… here is the pre-service playlist from my ipod.  I was going for sort of a sort of a 2002 rap-rock thing (well, mostly).  I also had a mostly acoustic playlist ready to go, but scrapped the idea…

• I’ll Rise by All Together Seperate (featuring PAX217)
• Higher Ground by 38th Parallel
• Unbelievable by Thousand Foot Krutch
• Old School by Inhabited
• Wake Up by KJ-52 (featuring Toby Morrell of Emery)
• Go by Forty Days Tempted
• Who Am I? by 38th Parallel
• Voices by PAX217
• Schizophreniac by Earthsuit
• Mary’s Song by Molly Williams

Jay was the 24-year-old son of my step-mother, Jana.  Technically, Jay was my step-brother; but we didn’t really have any sort of relationship…  When my dad and Jana married a few years ago, Jana’s two oldest sons were out of the house.  They never really seemed interested in developing any sort of relationship with my siblings.

But I can’t really say that I’ve reached out to them either…  In fact, I don’t think I ever had a real conversation with Jay; just a hello in passing.  And I’m pretty sure that I’ve only seen Jay’s older brother twice – at the wedding and Jay’s funeral.  He lives in New Jersey now, so I’ve got a reasonable excuse.

The funeral was very nice with a lot of flowers and a lot of people.

It was tough one though.  Jay’s death was completely unexpected (and currently unexplained).  Not to mention that parents aren’t supposed to have to bury their children.  Period.  Too bad that God doesn’t follow my rules.

One of the ministers read a lot of thoughts written by friends and family.  I thought it was interesting that he had even set up a Facebook page for friends and family to leave their memories.  Very good use of social networking…

Apparently, Jay was a very funny, larger-than-life kind of guy.  Charismatic.  People just wanted to be around him.  My sister and I discussed after the funeral that we had no idea.  It’s sad that we missed the opportunity.

I hope that 2009 will be a great year for all of you!