Want Some Free Stuff????

We have teamed up with a great company called Digital Praise to help get the word out about their product called “Guitar Praise.”  Guitar Praise is very similar to Rock Band or Guitar Hero – with the exception of the song selection.  All the music is Christian.  It is a game that you will have no problems letting your kids play – and you will enjoy playing yourself.  It connects to your PC or Mac with a wireless USB adapter so you can play your Guitar Praise guitar with “no strings attached.”

I’ll be giving you a first hand review of the product here in the next few days – but until then…how about a chance to WIN one for FREE?  Well, thanks to the folks at Digital Praise, we will be giving away a complete Guitar Praise package INCLUDING the all new expansion pack to one lucky reader.

How do you win? I’m glad you asked.  The rules are simple.

1. Follow @jasonwhitehorn and @gotworship on twitter.  (Just click the names to be taken to the individual twitter pages.) You MUST follow BOTH accounts to win.
2. Enter your twitter username in the box below and press “Get Links”.  You can share these links on Twitter and Facebook to earn points.  You can earn 5 points for sharing the pre-formating twitter message on twitter and pick up an additional 5 points for sharing it on Facebook by clicking the Facebook link.  Finally, you can earn 1 point just for commenting a short blurb at the bottom of this article about who you are, how you found this site, and what role (if any) you have in worship at your church.

It really is that easy!  So go ahead and follow us on Twitter, get your links, and good luck winning!  (Yes, you can tweet the links as many times as you like.  The more times you tweet it…the more points you gain.)  The one with the most points at the end of the contest….wins.  Falling behind on points?  Don’t stress…there will be random drawings as well – so make sure you participate for your chance to win.

What are you waiting for?  Once you’re done, check back on this page to track the leaderboard and see who is leading the pack!

Important note….Points for twitter user “@prayweets” do not count.

My home church, LifePoint Church, is having a SuperBowl party at our main Stewarts Creek Campus – and I’d love to invite all of my local Murfreesboro, Smyrna, LaVergne, and Nashville “got worship?” friends.

Click on the image above for more details and to RSVP or click here.  I’d love to see ya there!

….five words…

ANY WAY HE WANTS TO.

It had started out as a simple after church saga.  I had returned home after doing worship at one of our LifePoint Church campuses on a very icy day and decided to take my daughter sledding.  I sent a simple request out on facebook and twitter to try to find out where the best place might be to go…

One of the first replies I got was to a location right under my nose…my home church.  WOW, what a hill!  This thing is like a whole football field length long and about that deep as well.  Talk about steep!  This hill has a drop!  Out of all the time that I had attended LifePoint, I had never noticed the hill before.

My daughter had an absolute BLAST going down that hill time and time again.  While I was up there, I met a man who has bringing his son to LifePoint for youth events, but has never attended himself.  He is concidering now attending LifePoint with his son.  Soon he and the other family he was with left and it was just me and my daughter – until another family shows up.

The kids played around for a while and I introduced myself to the dad.  Our church is large and, admittedly, it is hard to know who is a member or not.  Turns out – the man had never been to LifePoint before…or a church for that matter.  He was there just because “this was the biggest hill I could find to sled on”.

So we talked…and talked…and talked.  We talked about his questions … “why a church that big?” and “why no steeple?” and other assorted questions.  Eventually, the conversation turned more serious into questions about God and ended up with “when do you guys have church?”  (*Smile* ) I was more than happy to answer!

I set out to sled with my daughter on some ice….anywhere.  So did they.  Amazing how God has other plans.  But God always has other plans…doesn’t He?

Broadcasting Live with Ustream.TV

I serve at an awesome church called LifePoint Church.  Above is the live feed…but I encourage you to watch LifePoint’s Live page for more options to chat with the community, see verses in real time vai YouVersion and more.

Take yourself out of the context of a believer for a moment.  Put yourself in the shoes of a man who is just “kicking the tires” of church – maybe even for the first time…and you’ve entered a worship service at your church.

What do you feel when you listen to the songs?  Don’t adjust that sentence…I said it just as I meant it….”when you listen to the songs”.  You more than likely don’t know the words, you don’t have an intimate relationship with God so you aren’t going to be instantly moved to tears…what are you going to feel?  I’m leaving out a whole lot of variables, aren’t I?  It’s hard to know what you would feel without knowing where you are in life.

When writing songs for your community – it is crucial to know where the people in your community are in life.  Lets assume this – the largest employer in your city is a manufacturing plant and, after 75 years in business, they are now shutting their doors.  Lifetime employees now have nothing.  One of the laid off men from that plant, for what ever reason, decided to “kick the tires” at your church…and there you are singing “God, you are awesome! Yeah, you’re the greatest!  You do wonderful things for me!” (Not quite sure what song that is…but I’ll digress.)

There is nothing wrong with the lyrics to the song…in fact, they are quite true.  The question is, will they connect to the man laid off from his job and then, in turn, connect him to a closeness to God?  Probably not.  In fact, he’d probably scoff at the idea.

Now lets contrast that with a song by Carl Cartee.

Could I let go of all that you’ve given If it meant that it all would be yours
Could I sit at your feet, and forget about me, and remember what I’m here for

Honestly I need to be broken
Honestly I need to fall down
Go ahead and shake my foundation
Cause Honestly I’m figuring out
that of all that I have, all that I need is you
honestly

Do you think that the man who just lost his job may have a closer chance of connecting with this song?  I’d dare say yes.  I don’t know what stage Carl was at when he wrote this song…or who he wrote it for…but I know that it has power, it is true, and it reaches.

I think as songwriters, we loose touch with writing songs that reach others where they live.  We need to, first and foremost, be writing for our Creator – but not neglect those who we may reach.

Think about the power of the songs we write and the songs we select to lead for our communities…and, while you are thinking about it…watch Carl leading “Honestly” live.

Yesterday, we began a series on songwriting entitled “Overcome : Writing Songs For A Community and Then The World.” but that focused on a song…but never actually on songwriting – or did it?

If you haven’t already, take a minute to go back and read the article.  Notice that this song was written for a community.  Now, even after the details that I have given you, there are still a ton that I can only speculate about.  I’m sure the answers are there and I just haven’t asked the right questions.  Was the song written after the first pastor was ousted because of his sexual immoralities?  Did they have a huge revelation when they had previously thought they were given the song to deal with the pastoral situation only to learn i was there to cope with the murders? I’m sure there is a clear answer…but I don’t readily know it.  One thing that is clear…the song was written and there in place before the murders took place.  Don’t miss that!  No matter what actually took place with that song, God made sure that New Life Worship had that song there to minister to the congregation in their time of need.

And that brings us to the first point about “community songwriting” :

• Not every song will be known to be “for community” when written.

When we talk about writing “for community”, we are talking about writing for your specific congregation – for situations that apply to what your congregation may be going through.  I’ve written songs before that seemed so broad focused but then, in speaking to a pastor at a certain church, learned about a particular situation and realized that the song was perfect for what they were going through.  Likewise, I’ve written songs that will more than likely never be played at any other churches other than the community it was written for.  In either case – I began by simply writing.  I can assure you of one thing…no one picked up pad and paper and said “okay, guys…lets write a song about how we might overcome a situation about someone walking in to our campus with a gun.”  God, however, knew that the song would be used in that way – and knew every tear that He would comfort, in advance, with the powerful words in the lyrics.

Which brings me to my next point…

• Knowing that not every song will be known to be “for community” … don’t be afraid to simply write what is on your heart.

If God has laid a song before you…offer it.  Let someone hear it.  Play it to your pastor, your team, your choir – see what the response is.  You never know what difference it may make someday.  Perhaps not to a whole congregation…but to even one or two people in that community.

Tomorrow, we’ll take a deeper look at how keeping in touch with what is going on in your community will help you in your approach to writing.  I hope you’ll join us.

Everytime I’ve ever led, played, or heard “Overcome” by New Life Worship, I think about the image above.  It is the face of Jared Leininger, drummer for the worship team melting his heart into the heads of those drums with an unforgetable look of tears an smiles.  Why?

It’s because of the power of a song and a community.

New Life Church was thriving a few years back…a growing giant – and then hit a very large speedbump.  In 2006, the pastor at the time shocked his church when they learned he had had relations with a paid male escort.  The church did what they could only do best…they pressed on with a new pastor…and overcame.

December 9, 2007 – not even four months after hiring their new pastor – a gunman entered New Life and opened fire.   Four people were hit by the gunman’s bullets and two were killed.  A church security volunteer was able to stop the incident – but the gunman took his own life.

Why?  Why this church? Was it time to pack it up and call it quits?  How many churches have to face their pastor paying a prostiute…a same sex prostitute at that?  How many churches have to deal with someone entering their doors with a gun and murdering?  How many churches have to deal with both???

Three days after the murders, the church joined together for the first time.  A very bold Brady Boyd, the church’s new pastor, told congregants that they

“will not be governed by fear.”

The worship team began playing a song…a song the world knows as “Overcome”.  The guitar began to play…Ross Parsley, the worship pastor, turns around and there is Jared … tears melting down his face – but smiling…knowing they words…knowing that this is a church that will overcome.

You see, I feel ridiculous every time I hear the song.  I realize the so called “struggles” I have in my life…and how I think, at times, that they are so impossible to get through.  Then, I see Jared’s face…and, through him, see every single person in that congregation that was there…that had to deal with both tragedies that will still to this day boldly say “bring it on.  You’ve got NOTHING that my God can’t help me to overcome.”

It is songs like this that lead me to a new series on “Writing For a Community”.  This week, while we are taking a break from our Pure Praise series, we’ll take a short mini-series on this topic.

Until then…take a new look at the song “Overcome” … and release the troubles and fears you have to God.

If you don’t know Carlos – you’re missing something.  If you know Carlos – you’re not missing much.  He’s just a guy…like you an me – but he doesn’t try to paint in all the hidden gaps of his world.  He is a transparent beautiful mess.  I love this guy.  I’ve studied with him, followed his blog, listened to his rants, watched his journey progress, even watched him lead worship on a toilet.  (I told you he was a beautiful mess.)

So why am I talking about one man?  The answer is simple…I honestly think I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t introduce you to him…and to 100% pure honest music that he is now creating with Integrity Music.

Let me introduce you to Carlos Whittaker.

Do me a favor…

give me 10 minutes of your time that I can’t promise you’ll ever get back…

…but its ten minutes that see that “bald & chubby dad” who is beautifully as messed up as you are…

…can do something AWESOME for GOD’s glory.

Carlos’s website can be found here.  Enjoy.

One of the most commonly searched terms here on “got worship?” pertains to in-ear monitors.  For that reason, we like to keep you in tune with the best products for your in ear mix and, from time to time, get the opportunity to review products that you might find worthwhile.

Today, we have the pleasure of reviewing a set of custom molded in-ears from Ultimate Ears – the UE 4 Pro.

The General Stuff

There is something to be said about custom molded in-ear monitors to begin with – but most have a pretty hefty price tag to go along with it.  Ultimate Ears decided to take their high standard in custom in-ears and break it down into a more cost-obtainable package called the UE 4 Pro.  Dubbed the in-ear for emerging artists, this custom molded in-ear comes in at only $399.00.

The UE 4’s look a whole lot like the pricier UE 10 or 11’s – with a a few cutbacks.  First of all, you can’t get them in custom colors and designs – you get your choice of clear, clear or clear.  That isn’t too much of a problem since clear doesn’t look too gaudy onstage.  The in-ears even have the customization of having your intials on each ear bud in red and blue to indicate which ear to place them in.

Now, while I mentioned that they look like the 10’s or 11’s – don’t forget that there is a reason in the $500 plus difference in price…they don’t sound the same.

The UE 4 Pro has a proprietary dual-armature speaker system.  It also has an integrated passive crossover circuit  - tech talk for a dedicated speaker just for the bass and mids and a dedicated speaker for the highs.  Its a good blend even if your desire is true reference sound – but it’s a contrast to the 11’s with quad armatures and three-way crossovers.

In true custom mold fashion, these guys also provide -26dB of isolation and passive noise cancellation and, with an extra $50 – you can get an ambient noise pass-thru.

Now, cool stuff…if something is bound to break on any given in-ear – it is usually going to be a cable.  The Ultimate Ears crew opted to go with a detachable cable which means easier replacement.  I can easily buy a spare cable and swap it out rather than send my in-ears off for a few days and use a less-reliable backup.  Kudos for that gem.

Techincal Stuff

UE 4 Pro  Specifications

• Input Sensitivity: 108db @ 1mw
• Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 15,000 Hz
• Impedance: 17.5 ohms at 1 kHz
• Internal Speaker Configuration: 2 proprietary precision balanced armatures
• Noise Isolation: -26dB
• Input Connector: 1/8″ (3.5mm) Gold plated

Personal Listening

The Test Song

For all in-ear reviews, I use  ”Footloose” from the Footloose soundtrack for a few reasons:

• The song has a great mix of highs, lows, and mids to judge the different qualities.
• It is a “busy” song in that there are plenty of separated instrumentation tracks to try to pick out.
• It, by virtue of being under the category of “80’s Music”, happens to be first in my iPod.

The test song was played via the same iPod at the same volume level (20 and then max for a second listen) in order to be fair in my assessment.

Overall, the UE 4’s had a good balance.  All the voices and instruments seemed to be right in the pocket where they should be, though the sound at 20 was not as “hot” as some of my other in-ears.  I do wish the bass had a bit more “umph” to it.  Still, the sound was stellar crisp and clear.  No complaints in the personal listening department…but I don’t think UE is looking for a niche in the mp3 player headphone department at close to $400 – nor do I expect most would buy them solely for that reason.

Stage Performance

Worn in a full-on FOH mix with AVIOM personal mixing station at my disposal.  The venue is a theater-type hall with great acoustics but with drums that will tear you up without having proper noise cancellation.

The UE 4 Pro’s did the trick.  I didn’t have any muddled sound, which is what I would have expected with a low-end in-ear.  While these are not UE 10’s or 11’s by far, the sound is great for a worship leader or musician working on a budget.

Oh…remember my earlier complaint about the bass while jamming to Footloose?  That actually becomes a redeeming factor on stage.  FOH (Front of House) mixes tend to be bass dominant by nature, so if you are like me and play acoustic while you sing, you fight to hear yourself in there.  The less than enthusiastic bass in the personal listening category actually made for a good balance on stage and allowed me to make a good mix.

I could really only find one complaint with the UE 4 Pro’s and even it isn’t trully a complaint…Cord length – this is actually a hit or miss type thing.  When I have on a wireless pack, the cord length is actually perfect – but it is entirely too short when hard-wired into an Aviom.  This can, however, be resolved by purchasing a separate cord from UE…so kudos on having accessories.

Overall Summary

The UE 4 Pro’s are definitely great for a low-end price custom mold one piece.  The $399.00 price tag may not reach everyone’s budget…but it is still a far cry from some of the 700,800,900, and 1,000 dollar alternatives.

The ownership experience is nice…I got an email from the Ultimate Ears team telling me that my in-ears had shipped followed up by an email from UPS with a tracking number provided by Ultimate Ears to track the package.  Then, I got a “welcome” video from Ultimate Ears that told me a little bit about how to properly wear my new in-ears and how to care for them once they arrived.  The ownership experience continued when I got the package – they come in a sturdy case that is personalized – a nice touch…while the in-ears themselves bear the purchaser’s initials, too.  The kit also comes with a wax loop and brush making maintenance fairly easy for the in-ears.

My ultimate take-away is this :  if you have around $500 to spend and you are dead set on getting your first pair of custom one piece molded in-ears…then you will enjoy these UE’s.  Make sure that you understand that these are not intended to be the “ultimate” monitor for vocalists and musicians, but a cheaper alternative without having to sacrifice all matters of sound quality.

Ultimate Ears: http://ultimateears.com
UE 4 Pro: http://ultimateears.com/_ultimateears/store/custom/ue4pro.php