One and done

The Stellar Awards used to be one of the highlights of the year for me when I was growing up. I remember making a whole night of it. This year's Stellar's just came on Sunday and to be quite honest, I just watched Celebration of Gospel last month and have thus surpassed my quota for the amount of awards shows I plan to watch this year. (This coming from someone who didn't watch the Oscars, SAG awards, BET Honors, or any other ridiculously long show featuring today's top entertainers/talent/intellects.) I guess I should've held out for the show that honors gospel music artists rather than the one that showcases talent (even though both line-ups were about the same).

The other thing is, if you're following your favorite artists on social media, you already know who won what.

In case you're not in the know, here's the link to see all of this year's winners.


Blessings

Running on E

Did you miss me while I was gone? I usually post every week, but I didn't have much to say for the month of February so I took a break.

I also am usually very upbeat, but for whatever reason, I'm not feeling very chipper these days.

In short, I think I need a Sabbatical. I won't spend a lot of time explaining everything in great detail, but I bet if you're following this blog you probably feel the same way at times. If you are like me, you wear multiple roles at your church. (#smallchurchproblems) I called myself stepping back from the youth leader role, but because our national youth convention isn't in the U.S., I've been thrust back into organizing. Then, besides leading the worship team, I also sing a solo most Sundays. Finally, I agreed to help with our district praise team this year and things are really about to pick up.

Sometimes when you have a lot of responsibilities you start to resent being involved so much. Not to mention I work full time, am a mom, and wife. I have friends, but honestly I can go well over a month without seeing them. I feel like I'm running on empty here. And not in the physically exerted way; in the personal/spiritual way. And I don't mean in the religious sense. It's more like I'm doing so much for everything and everyone and I'm not replenishing myself.  I'd like to chalk it all up to the winter blues, but it's almost spring. (I say that while it's snowing at this very moment and it's March.)

So that's where I am. Stick with me as I try to bounce back.

Why I loved Celebration of Gospel (much to my surprise)

I'm not a big awards show fan. You end up watching to see 2 or 3 of your favorite artists and the rest of the 40 hours is spent hearing from people you're just not that into. For me, it's not worth the amount of time invested in front of the tube.

For this reason I had not planned to watch BET's Celebration of Gospel. It's not an awards show, but it's the same type of deal. Sure, most of the artists have a song that I like, but I'm an equal opportunity hater so I wasn't going to automatically watch just because COG is a gospel show. (Hopefully that shows I have integrity. lol) Nonetheless, I happend to be flipping through channels and ended up watching the last half and really enjoyed it.

I LOVE that the show is about celebrating gospel. This isn't the "if you're saved and you know it clap your hands" show. This is the "if you love gospel music and you know it clap your hands." I love that pop culture celebrities, R&B, and hip hop artists are there - some of which are performing to rep their love for gospel and the message that it brings. Honestly, most black artists got their start in church. Let's celebrate that! So cheers to Taraji P. Hensen, Chaka Khan, Tank, Bryshere Gray, et. al for participating. Everyone was making a joyful noise.

I love that COG is an opportunity for pop artists to show that they do indeed listen to, enjoy, and recognize the talents of gospel artists. Y'all know one can sing like church folk! Yasssss Tamela Mann, Yolanda Adams, and Jessica Reedy (she sounded phenomenal!) And in case pop celebs' fans didn't know they believe in an almighty God - now they know.

COG also shows that gospel is not just a traditional church choir. Hello Travis Greene and Kirk Franklin. We have a message and a sound for lovers of music and it doesn't only consist of old classics like "I-iiiiii love the Lord, he heard my cry-yyy-yyyyyy."

I love that COG is a platform for the gospel community to worship together and commemorate our legends. The Andre Crouch tribute was really nice. Shout out to Be Be Winans!

Finally, I love that others can hear the true message of gospel thanks to songs like Worth by Anthony Brown and Group thereAPy.

So Kudos, BET, for getting it right and keeping it classy... this time. :)

P.S. If you missed Celebration of Gospel 2016 and want to check out the performances here's the link.

He Loves Us - Immeasurable

Here's a great song to add to your praise team's repertoire. I love their voices!

The conference phenomenon

Today we are gonna talk about something that I'll call the conference phenomenon. You know what I'm talking about...

There is a sense of expectancy when we meet at a conference. We are looking for a great word, a great worship experience, a refreshing, anointing, vibrancy, a move of the Holy Ghost. We come on time. Shoot, we even come early for pre-service prayer. We sing in the audience like we're part of the choir. We take notes. We come up for prayer. We are ready, even anxious or excited for God to speak directly to us. We can't wait to hear from Dr./Bishop/Prophet/Apostle ________. We buy the cd, dvd, download the podcast. We replay it hoping to keep the fire kindled.

But when we go to our individual church on a typical Sunday - dead.

What does it mean when we can praise collectively at another venue, but not at our individual churches?

As a praise leader, we are part cheerleader, part minister, part entertainment. But as congregants, we need to stop expecting the praise leader to be all things every Sunday. Are you coming to church on Sunday with the same expectancy, excitement, and praise that you came to that conference/women's retreat/concert with? If not, you are part of the problem.

What I think I know about worship is that God desires us to experience His presence at our regular Sunday services. (And even beyond that!) A move of God is not just for special events. Not just when that major recording artists performs. Not just when the bishop is in town. We need to bring that same expectancy and readiness with us each Sunday, otherwise what's the point?

Blessings

All Of My Help - Geoffrey Golden

Here's a nice, simple, mid-tempo song suitable for praise teams everywhere. I plan to check out more from Geoffrey Golden.

Great Expectations

We had an awesome service the last Sunday in December. I expected that the first service of 2016 would be great as well... Well, that didn't happen.

• We started church ~ 15 minutes late. Strike one. 
• I ended up leading praise and worship (P&W) by myself, unless you count the 30 seconds my dad, the deacon, was up there before he realized he had other stuff to do and left. Strike 2. 
• People were really late and kind of dead despite my best cheer-leading effort. Strike 3. 
• The kids (including mine) weren't on their best behavior. Strike 4 - This isn't baseball; I have more strikes.
• I didn't follow the message well because I had to step out of the sanctuary with my kid and never was able to catch up or because the message wasn't very linear. Strike 5
• Finally, we ended service later than usual due to starting late, long-winded announcements, and having communion. I typically have no problems with a 2 hour service, but because everything seemed so disjointed and flat to me, I was irritated at the time. Strike 6.

So there. 6 strikes = 2 outs. Good grief!

I suppose I shouldn't be shocked. We had a great service the previous week and I attended my monthly women's prayer and it was great too. 2 people want to join the praise team now. I even wrote a song Dec. 31 after a very uninspired few months. I guess the devil couldn't wait to discourage me.

If I were new to Christ, Sunday might have been my last day at my church for a while, but I understand that we cannot be moved by what we see or even what is. I declare that what happened this Sunday is not going to be indicative of the rest of the year. As Tasha Cobbs reminded us last night on the iLead escape, according to Mark 11:23-24, "We shall have whatever we say."