04/25/10 Logan's Worship Blog

We're back! After a couple 20 hour drives across the country, and two weeks away from our home church family, I am finally blogging about another Dutton set list for The Heights. And I am glad to do so.

This week, we will be led to the Word by our good friend, Afshin Ziafat. If you don't know him, you are one of the few, and you should check out his website: http://www.afshinziafat.com/

Here are the songs we'll be singing together this week...

1. Our God (Tomlin)

Some of you have heard me talk about one of my best friends, Daniel Carson, who plays guitar for the Chris Tomlin band. Well, last friday I was able to be a good friend, when Chris Tomlin was playing in Dallas, and Daniel was in need of a guitar for an acoustic set Chris wanted to do in the middle of the show. I put my old chet atkins guitar in the back my old camry and headed out to Bent Tree Bible, where the guys were sound checking for the evening. Soon after I arrived, Chris and the guys started playing "Our God," which is still fairly new to everyone, as it was only written a few months ago. But, having played this song at The Heights several times, I was able to enjoy this sound check time as a worship experience. It was just me, sitting on the 5th row, amidst 3000 empty seats, but I was still singing with everything in me.

When Chris introduced "Our God" to the crowd that night, he said "This song is a new one, but it seems to be catching on quicker than I expected. During sound check today, there was some guy sitting out in the seats, singing every word. I was freaking out!"

When I went to see Daniel backstage after the show, I reprimanded Chris for referring to me as "some guy" instead of "a friend, named logan, who you can worship with at The Heights in Richardson every Sunday morning at 10:50, for more information visit http://1050worship.blogspot.com/." But then I forgave him.

Romans 8:31b (New International Version)

If God is for us, who can be against us?

2. Lead Me to the Cross (Fraser)

This Sunday we are going to recognize the Heights Youth Group's senior class, most of whom should be committed to attending the Lord's school, Baylor University, this fall. Yes, yes I know Ekpe Udoh left for the draft, but we will still have an elite eight caliber team coming back next year. And don't forget our healthy Heisman hopeful, Robert Griffin, will be tearing up the turf this fall. God Bless our football coach Art Briles. Anyway! Anyway. I was given the task of choosing a song to follow the time of prayer we will be having for our Seniors, and I can't think of a better declaration for our students to make than this:

Lead me to the cross, where your love poured out

Bring me to my knees, Lord I lay me down

Rid me of myself, I belong to you

Oh lead me, lead me to the cross

1 Corinthians 1:18 (New International Version)

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

3. You are Good (some guy)

I think it's important for worship leaders to spend consistent time in the Psalms. Read them every day. Read different translations. Read commentaries. Make your own commentaries! Pray the words! Put the words to music! Recently, I've been praying through five NIV psalms each day, and today I read through my favorite 5 psalm stretch: psalm 21-25. I try to highlight my favorite parts, and by the end of my reading time today, I realized that I had highlighted every last word of those five psalms. Yes, that may defeat the point of highlighting, but I love the smell of highlighters, so it was still a gratifying task.

I was not only blown away by the poetry of these five psalms, I was broken by their honesty. As much as any man in history, David experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, but he gave glory to God at every turn. That is the goal of this song. Honesty, brokenness, and trust. I would encourage you to spend some time with psalm 22 today. Everyone remembers psalm 23, but what is David going through in the previous prayer...

Psalm 22

For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David.

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?

² O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.

³ Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.

⁴ In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.

⁵ They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.

⁷ All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

⁸ "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."

⁹ Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.

¹⁰ From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.

¹¹ Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

¹² Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

¹³ Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.

¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶ Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.

¹⁷ I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.

¹⁸ They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.

¹⁹ But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

²⁰ Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.

²¹ Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

²² I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.

²³ You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

²⁴ For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

²⁵ From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

²⁶ The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!

²⁷ All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,

²⁸ for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.

²⁹ All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.

³⁰ Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.

³¹ They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn—
for he has done it.

Heights Worship Blog: 04/11/10

Worship Leader for this Sunday: Richard Smith

Sunday, April 11th

Majestic - Lincoln Brewster

Here Is Our King - David Crowder

Living for Your Glory - Tim Hughes

You Are So Good to Me - Waterdeep

Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) - John Newton/Chris Tomlin

Logan's Worship Blog: Easter Sunday 2010

I write to you from a hotel room in Dayton, Ohio - where we will be leading worship tonight for the Ohio Youth Evangelism Conference. I can't wait to lead thousands of young students in a Good Friday celebration of the cross.

But the cross is not our hope. The empty tomb is our hope. Without the resurrection, there is no justification. And so the real celebration takes place this Sunday morning, when we remember the significance of Mark 16:6 "And he said to them, 'Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him.'"

1. Let God Arise (Tomlin) - We'll play this song as you guys are making your way into the building for the 10:50 SERVICE. Remember, there is no such thing as an "11 o clock service" at the heights. We start at 10:50, and we always lead one song at about 10:45, five minutes before the service starts, as the countdown clock is running. So get out of bed five minutes sooner, tell your Adult Bible Fellowship leaders to let you out on time, get the kids to K-Dog a bit early, do whatever you have to do to make it to worship by 10:45!

This week we'll be singing "Let God Arise" as the countdown video shows the tomb being slowly rolled away from the grave. Don't miss this moment! And let's be honest... it's Easter. You'll have to get there early to get a seat anyway.

"Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee before Him." Psalm 68:1

2. Mighty to Save (Fielding & Morgan) - God works in mysterious ways. He holds time in His hands and sees all of history laid out before Him. He knew that when Australia's coasts were utilized a place of banishment for British criminals in the 18th century, eventually this nation would develop into a hotbed of passionate worshippers who would be writing and singing songs to proclaim God's infinite glory. "Mighty to Save" is one of the many songs we borrow from a church in Sydney called Hillsong. Here's just glimpse of what worship looks like for them: Mighty to Save Video

17 The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing." Zeph. 3:17

3. When Heaven Came Down (Walter) - We introduced this one at Christmas time as a song about the incarnation. But the song doesn't stop there. The first verse is about God becoming man, but the second verse says:

You were nailed to the Tree of Life

And all creation was justified

When heaven came down and kissed the earth

Son of Man, Redeemer God

The Holy Spirit was sent to us

When heaven came down and kissed the earth

So this Sunday we sing "When Heaven Came Down" as an Easter song, celebrating our Redeemer God, the justifications He gives to us, and the Spirit that he left with us. We remember that if God hadn't sent His Son to stand in the gap for us, there would be nothing standing between us and God's wrath. Ezekiel tells us that we would be consumed!

30 "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD." Ezekiel 22:30-31

4. Our God (Tomlin & Redman) - These past few weeks, you've been singing this song with all your heart, mind, soul, and VOLUME. I love backing away from the microphone and letting you guys sing this chorus on your own. Don't be afraid to sing out! Let the Spirit lead you! If a visitor, who doesn't know this song, is standing beside you - your passion and willingness to shout praises to God will encourage them to do the same. Sing! Sing! Sing!

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9

5. How Great is Our God (Tomlin) - "Our English language only goes so far into saying How Great God is," Chris Tomlin says in this HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD VIDEO INTERVIEW. Watch it.

Shout for joy, O heavens;
rejoice, O earth;
burst into song, O mountains!
For the LORD comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. Isaiah 49:13

And don't forget to invite everyone you know to church this Sunday. This is one of a few Sundays throughout the year that you may get more "Yes's" than "No's" when you extend an invite!