From the Mind of MandoRon

This was week 3 of GracePoint’s U2-themed Christmas series.  Bryson delivered a challenging message on taking care of the poor and needy, using the song “Where the Streets Have No Name” as an illustration.  I didn’t realize that the song was about a vision of a better world where the name of a person’s street didn’t matter.  Where there is no wrong side of the tracks…

I was slightly worried that last week’s music had been too good and the next few weeks wouldn’t measure up.  Luckly, I was quite wrong.  Sunday was as good, if not better, than last week!

The music:

• Vertigo by U2 (walk-in)
• I Will Follow by U2 (walk-in)
• All Because of Jesus by Fee
• Undo Me by Jennifer Knapp
• Understand by Jeremy Camp
• Where the Streets Have No Name by U2 (offering)
• I Will Follow by U2 (exit)

Vertigo … We played this for the first time last week. 

I Will Follow is one that has been talked about for a few years, but has never made the setlist.  When the U2 Christmas series idea came up, we had to throw it in.  Carmen was awesome on the vocals.  Actually, everybody was awesome!

All Because of Jesus shows up from time to time on the setlist.  Great song.  I particularly liked the sound of Bruce and Jeff playing two different lead guitar riffs.

Undo Me is a fun, bluesy rocker.  I’m not a huge lyrics guy, but I really like the lyrics on this song.  Rod laid down some very nice rock organ.

Understand … an oldie but a goodie…

Where the Streets Have No Name has caused the most concern for the series.  We knew it would be the most difficult song to pull off.  The band didn’t just pull it off, they rocked it!  I was considerably impressed with the way everyone stepped up on this one.  Special kudos to Denny on drums.  Insane!

Here’s an mp3 of the 2nd service, if you’re interested… Where the Streets Have No Name.  [New...And the video!]

The band:  1 female vocal, 1 male vocal, 2 electric guitars, bass, keys, and drums.

That about covers it.  For more Sunday Setlist action, check out Fred’s blog to see what other churches are up to.

I don’t understand how my dog, Bullet, can sleep like this?  It can’t be comfortable…  On the other hand, he never asks to go to the chiropractor either. 

Maybe it’s dog yoga.

Just wanted to let you know about a little live music opportunity tomorrow (Wednesday) night.  Edge of Grace from GracePoint Church and Ferocious Mary will be doing a couple of acoustic sets at The Donut Whole.

The specifics:

• When:  Wednesday, December 9 … 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
• Where:  The Donut Whole @ 1720 E Douglas in Wichita, KS
• Directions:  If you want ‘em

I was recently offered a copy of Bill George’s latest book, 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis, to review.  I heard Bill speak at the Leadership Summit in 2008, so I jumped at the chance.  Just in case you don’t know who he is… Bill George is a  professor at Harvard Business School and former CEO of Medtronic, as well as being an author and blogger. 

In 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis, Bill uses the recent financial crisis to explore how leaders should respond when faced with a crisis.  Perfect timing!  This recession has put a lot of people in some tough spots.

While I don’t think there are any Nobel-prize winning ideas in the book, there is a lot of very useful and challenging advice.  Leadership isn’t rocket science, but it’s not easy either.

It’s important to know how to effectively lead in a crisis, because a crisis is a sink-or-swim situation.  As Bill points out, there exists both danger and opportunity.  The key to succesful leadership in crisis is being able to seize the opportunity without succombing to the danger.

Here are some of my main takeaways from 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis:

• Leaders must be willing to face reality in a crisis
• The best leaders are not afraid to fail.  (While I’m not afraid of small failures, I have to acknowledge that I’m afraid of failing big…)
• Leaders need to be able to express vulnerability.
• Assume that the situation is going to get worse.
• Things will probably never return to the “old” normal.  Stop waiting for normal to return.
• Don’t declare victory too soon.  Bill points out the epic example of George W. Bush landing on the USS Lincoln back in 2003 to declare the War in Iraq over.
• “Never waste a good crisis!”  A crisis provides the opportunity to create major change in the organization.
• “Keep your head up during a crisis rather than hunkering down.”

7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis is definitely a must-read for any leader.  It’s inexpensive and only 127 pages.  How can you beat that?  Be sure to check out Bill’s blog too.

Today was week 2 of the U2-themed Christmas series, In the Name of Love, at GracePoint.  The message title today was Vertigo, so you can probably guess at least one of the songs…

We got a little creative with things.  We started things off with a recording of Dizzy by Tommy Roe.  (You know… “I’m so dizzy, my head is spinnin’…”)  Rod added some effects to the mp3 so that it sounded like the 45 was skipping at the end of the second chorus.  Then you hear the needle sliding off the record.  At this point the curtains part and the band launched into Vertigo by U2.  Both vocalists, lead guitar, and bass were all wireless and came out of the back of the auditorium.  It was pretty cool.

Since the  message (and music) were about turning things upside down, the band exited and Mike gave his message early in the service.  The worship was after the message instead of at the beginning of the service.  If nothing else, it was something different…

The setlist:

• Vertigo by U2
• Mike’s message
• We Shine by Fee
• Magnificent by U2
• Set Me Free by Casting Crowns
• One by U2 (offering)
• Vertigo (exit)

Vertigo is a crazy fun song!  We’d never played it before, but like it a lot.  It will definitely see the light of day again.  The Dizzy intro was a fun idea that Deric came up with.

We Shine is probably our favorite Fee song.  It seems to really get people energized.

Magnificent is off U2’s latest album.  And yes, we put it in the middle of the worship set.  Even though it wasn’t their original intent, this makes a great worship song.  Christina did a great job on the vocals.  This was a new one for us too!  The song is a keeper.

Set Me Free is so powerful.  I love hearing Gil sing and watching Deric bang the drums on this one.

One finished up the U2 trifecta this morning.  It’s a great song that we’ve been using for years.  Works well acoustic too.  I pulled out my new Takamine acoustic for this one.

The band:  1 male and 1 female singer, lead guitar, electric mandolin & acoustic guitar (me!), bass, keys, and drums. 

Special kudos to Tommy on lead guitar and Amy on keys for really nailing U2’s sound!

That’s about all…  Be sure to check out Fred’s Sunday Setlist Extravaganza for more setlists. 

Have a great week!