From the Mind of MandoRon

Hola!

Today was a special day at GracePoint.  It was our last Sunday as a portable church!  (At least, for the time being…)  I can’t wait for our first service in the new building on August 8.

Our youth pastor, Terry Johnson, gave a great message about the importance of reaching the younger generation.  He always does a great job.  We also welcomed Mike back to the band for the first time in nearly a year.  It was good to have him singing with us again.

The Setlist:

• Time After Time by Spoken (walk-in)
• Deeper by Delirious
• You’re Worthy of My Praise by Jeremy Camp
• King of Glory by Jesus Culture
• He Reigns by Newsboys
• My Generation by Starfield (offering and exit)

Time After Time is a fun Cyndi Lauper cover that we’ve been doing for a few months.

Deeper kicked off our “mostly retro” worship set.  It’s a fun song to sing and play.

You’re Worthy of My Praise is another one we’ve been doing for quite a while.  For those who care… we played this in A with female vocals.

King of Glory is an awesome song by Jesus Culture that we first learned for a worship night earlier this year.  Jamie shared part of Psalm 24 during the intro.  Tommy ripped off an insane guitar solo!

He Reigns rounded out the retro setlist.  I pulled my in-ears out on this one so I could hear everyone singing along.  Very cool!

My Generation was a new one for us, although we’ve talked about it for years.  Great song, and it fit very well with Terry’s message.

The band:  Jamie - vocals, Mike - vocals, Tommy - electric guitar, Jim - bass, Phil - drums, Ronnie (me) - electric guitar and electric mandolin.

For more Sunday Setlists, be sure to check out TheWorshipCommunity.com.

Have an awesome week!

Hey good people of Wichita!

My very good friend, Carmen Kamps, is trying to find her 16-year-old daughter that ran away 5 months ago.  They believe that she is still in Wichita based on occasional phone calls and contact with friends.  Last week, Carmen recorded this song as a plea for Ashlynn to come home.

Please check out the video and let the Kamps family know if you’ve seen her.  They are asking that you either email them at ashlynncomehome@gmail.com or call 911.

Also, I’m sure the Kamps family would covet your prayers.  It’s been hard 5 months for them, and I can’t imagine what they’ve gone through.

Thanks!

It was good to be playing in church again this morning!  It’s been 4 or 5 weeks due to travel, a sick kid, and a planned (but not taken…) vacation.

We mixed things up a bit at GracePoint this morning.  Bryson spoke about worship, and we alternated back and forth all morning between music and his message.  I think it was pretty effective, although I wouldn’t want to do it every week since the band stayed onstage for the whole service…  It’s hard to be still and not be distracting…

This week was also notable because it was the first time that I’ve ever been the only guitarist.  Usually, I’m playing rhythm with someone else playing lead.  I thought it went pretty well overall.  It helps to play musicians that are so incredibly talented.

The Setlist:

I Run to You by Lady Antebellum.  We first used this song during the country series earlier this year.  It’s a fun little tune, even if it is a country song…  Thomas and Christina did a great job on the vocals!

Bryson spoke for about 10 minutes about why we use secular songs, the importance of worship in our lives, and about “horizontal worship”.

Let God Arise by Chris Tomlin.  One of my favorite Tomlin songs!

Breath by Jeremy Camp.  One of my favorite Camp songs!  Had a little glitch with my effects pedals in the 1st service, and completely blanked out on the outro in the 2nd service…  It’s always frustrating when you just suddenly forget part of a song.  Especially when it’s one you’ve played a lot.

Bryson now spoke on the subject of “vertical worship” and improving our relationship with God through worship.  He made a really good point that we need to make time to just ”be still” and connect with Him.

Hosanna by Hillsong United.  This song has such powerful lyrics.  I love the bridge: “break my heart for what breaks Yours.”  Rod played a tasty little keys solo in the middle.

Finally I Surrender by Misty Edwards.  It’s a very simple song, but it’s an awesome one.  It was amazing to see people on their knees crying out to God as we played and sang this one.  If you’ve never heard it, I suggest you check it out.

Bryson wrapped up by teaching about offering as worship.

Set Me Free by Casting Crowns (offering).  We’ve been playing this one for years.  Great song!

The band:  Christina - vocals, Thomas - vocals, Deric - drums, Gil - bass, Rod - keys, Ronnie (me) - electric guitar.

Be sure to check out more Sunday Setlists over at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

[Edit: I should probably point out that Ed has started loading the worship podcasts onto itunes again. The technical glitches with the recording equipment have apparently been solved... You can find the last 3 weeks on there now.]

It was good to be back in church yesterday for the first time in three weeks!  Two weeks ago, I was home with my sick daughter.  Then last week, she was in the hospital. So as you can imagine, it was nice for us all to go to church again…

This Sunday, we kicked off the the last sermon series in our rented facility.  Now there are only two more weeks at Maize South!  Then it’s on to GracePoint’s permanant facility!  So exciting!

The Setlist:

• Give A Little Bit - Goo Goo Dolls version (walk-in)
• Awakening - Switchfoot
• Broadcast - Fee
• God of This City - Chris Tomlin version
• Revelation Song - Jesus Culture version
• Love Revolution - Lenny Kravtiz (offering)

Give A Little Bit is a song we learned last year for a series on Giving.  Very fun song, but it’s got a ton of different sections which makes it kind of tricky.  Gil did a great job on the vocals.

Awakening used to be in pretty regular rotation but we haven’t played it in a while.  Great song!

Broadcast … I’ve always thought of this as just a fun, upbeat, get-your-blood-pumping song.  However, the lyrics jumped out at me this week (perhaps based on some new perspective in life…)  The verses are really powerful.  For example, “I know a name that is higher than any name.”

God of This City … speaking of powerful lyrics…  Don’t tell anyone, but I leaked a few tears when I heard Carmen sing this at practice Saturday.  In case you don’t know, “there is no one like our God”.  If you’re not familiar with the story behind this song, I’d encourage you to read this blog post about God of This City.

Revelation Song is such an awesome, powerful song.  Not much else I can say…

Love Revolution was the only new song in the set.  A very cool, funky song with great lyrics.  Tommy did a great job on the guitar solo.

The band: Carmen - vocals, Gil - vocals, Chris - drums, Carlos - bass, Tommy - lead guitar, Rod - keys

For more Sunday Setlists, be sure to check out the Sunday Setlist Blog Carnival over at TheWorshipCommunity.com.