Adoleo Worship Night

Last Friday around 500 people packed into the Englert theater for a night of worship. 

The Anthem band kicked it off (their main event will be on November 11th at Cornerstone in Ames), then Adoleo played the rest of the night. 

Some highlights included Voices of Soul gospel choir that joined us for an epic set of worship and Ally leading "Savior", which included crowd participation in a video project. 

I was sitting around thinking about how to include the crowd in the song. So I pulled 15 volunteers from the crowd with iPhones, and asked them to film the experience. I let four of them up on stage to get closer shots. We'll see at the beginning of November (the video deadline) whether or not that was a good idea. Here's a shot at the end of "Savior"...

I'm so proud of the Adoleo team, who has spent countless hours writing, recording, producing, worshiping, and praying- this was one of those late Monday night rehearsals at an empty coffee shop...

It's easier to use someone else's music that's tried and true, and there are good reasons most churches do that. But there's also something about giving our people their own voice with original music written by people in the church. It ignites latent creative juices, and energizes the people of God when they see writers using their gifts to encourage the body of Christ.

At the end of the day, most of the songs will not get beyond our church walls (if we had them), but the offering is not for man, but God.

Thus the name, Adoleo. ("I offer a sacrifice of worship")

Adoleo

It's official.

The new name for the former "Anthem Iowa City" band is "Adoleo", Latin for "I worship"

Adoleo: To magnify; hence, in sacrificial language, to which this word chiefly belongs, to honor, to worship, or to offer in worship, to sacrifice, burn

"Adoleo" reflects our desire to produce worship music that's connected to and flows out of our local church here in Iowa City. We use Latin phrases as a reminder that we are joining the Ancients in our pursuit of truth (Veritas) and writing music (Adoleo) that rightly glorifies God. As Bach said, "Music's only purpose should be the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit." (click here for Bach article)

Names are important not only because they are a statement of who you are, but who you are becoming. We are so prone to pride and the pursuit of fame and fortune- it's in us. And yet, it seems that we are joining a growing movement of song writers in the church (not just our church, but globally) who believe there has to be another way of making music that exalts Christ, not people. It's got to be about something bigger than fame and fortune... something that will far outlast this life, namely Jesus and his Church. Therefore "Adoleo" cautions us to be and become humble followers who exist to worship Jesus Christ and inspire hope in his followers.

"Adoleo" will also remind us that life is an act of worship. The word has the idea of offering burnt sacrifices. Paul takes the Old Testament concept of "sacrifice" and explains how that should look for us, on the other side of the cross. Romans 12:1, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your rational service to God." The "no duh" of life is to live every moment of it for God. So "Adoleo" is not just a style of music, it's a way of life. Every moment is a burnt offering for Christ. As our people listen to the music, we hope that they will not just hear melodies, but precious promises that become a way of life.

Adoleo is in the studio recording as we speak. The sound is going to be raw, slightly more acoustic driven than what you've heard on previous Anthem albums (indie-ish), at times a bit lyrically unconventional yet authentic (typical of Anthem i.e. "To Hear You"), a touch of banjo, soulful ballads, and a few tasty mainstream melodies. Overall the lining is a little darker in the clouds, yet filled with hope and joy. "This Hope", the probable album title, will be released sometime in August/September.

Until then I'll chide Clint and James to get us all something to listen to. I'll post it when I get it.

If you have some ideas for the album design, send them to me.

There's also a rumor that Anthem in Ames has some plans for another album- we can't wait for that... live album?

Thanks, Mary Ann for the tip on the name.

The Psalm Project and Anthem

I have to commend the Psalm Project blog to you, especially to all of you aspiring songwriters and artists out there. Here's a little background.

In 2006, I started this event called "Anthem." My vision was simple: young people gathering for a night of extended worship and prayer. Nothing revolutionary. But my hope was that through this God would draw out the talent in our youth and college ministries, causing students to aspire to write and create music for God's glory. I was a frustrated youth pastor, who often watched the most gifted musicians sit in the back and scoff at our worship team, who basically just covered the Big 3 (Crowder, Tomlin, United...). The mockers in the back were so eager to throw their instruments and voices in the mud of idolatry.

There's obviously nothing wrong with using mainstream songs for corporate worship, but I wanted to create our own worship culture. I thought we might get more buy in from students. What would it be like for kids, teenagers and college students to grow up dreaming of writing Anthem songs? Not for fame or career, but as an overflow of their passion for Jesus Christ and personal time spent with Him.

Anthem has recently multiplied- the movement in Ames is still strong (April 29th, 8pm at Cornerstone auditorium), but we've also started an Anthem team in Iowa City. Some amazing young talent has quickly emerged here- so much that we're recording an album this May! But one of the highlights from the last Anthem for me was during our prayer time before practice...

Here's where the Psalm Project ties into this Anthem rant

One of our new female vocalists and songwriters, Brianna Goodman, shared about being at the very first Anthem back in the Fall of 2006. She recalled being more into athletics at the time, with no thought of ever being a musician. Well, God has lit her heart on fire for Christ, and has given her the gift to express it. People like me (who don't have the writing gift) are so glad when God inspires gifted people! We get to use their songs to inspire our own worship.

That's why the Psalm Project gets me stoked and a little choked up (though I'm sure not as much as her mom, dad, and aunt :)... many of you know the Goodmans and Erin Burmeister).

Well, here's the link for Bri and Lauren's Psalm Project blog, with some YouTubes embedded. I'm sure you'll hear a song or two on the new Anthem album...

Just a quick P.S.... many of those scoffers in the back row of youth group have since given their lives to Christ. Alex Register plays electric in the Anthem (Ames) band. And others have come to help us plant Veritas in Iowa City (Jamie, Jack). Thanks Travis Pierce- it's never in vain 1 Cor. 15:58. SDG.

Anthem in a Bar

Our first Anthem in Iowa City was...

The pictures will do better than words. It was a "tavern" transformed into a temple, and for those who were there, I think it will be one of those "I was there" moments.

It's hard to say how many people were there. I would guess between 300-500. Below you can see there is an upper level that was a few rows deep with people.

At the end, I pulled up Carson Gardner, who is a sophomore in high school from the Ames area, to lead "You deserve" and Justan Spaid to sing "We are not the same", which is a song he helped write. The atmosphere was electric.

This Anthem was a nice change of pace for the band because there was a lot less emphasis on the production side. Because there was a business above the bar, we did a "quiet" run through of the set sitting in a circle. As it turns out, we may do that more often because we weren't as worn out for the actual event.

The bar became "Beth El"... house of God.

Here's the set list. Notice all the question marks at the bottom. We weren't sure how long the set was going to be, but we knew we had to be done by 9:45. Iowa City used to allow anyone 19 and older into the bars, until this summer...

I wanted to thank all of you who came down from Ames. There were probably 100 of you that made the trek down to join us for worship. Thanks for your continued prayers and support. This is just the beginning.

Soli Deo Gloria!

My life

I'm just checking in with some pictures from the last couple weeks. These are some snapshots into my world...

Anthem was a couple weeks ago in Ames. It rocked. The new CD has some killer songs on it, and it really inspired young people to give Christ all their worship. This picture was from the acoustic set in the middle of Anthem. Mark your calendars for November 17th... the first ever Anthem in Iowa City!

For the first time in 11 years of marriage, Leatha and I have a consistent date night (Thanks to Carrie and Mikaela). This was taken in the Ped Mall in Iowa City- we enjoyed the piano skills of fro-man.
Makai got the Sharpie permanent marker and decided to turn himself into Spider-Man.
The whole crew together...
Cameron, our little artist.
Beck
Reminder from Ava, "No Texting"
Mint in the tape deck, nobs pulled off... who knows what kid did it? Probably Makai, but maybe Jett.
I took our staff to Davenport for a morning of time alone with God. I decided to spend some time walking through the Casino, letting my heart get broken. The crowd was mostly over 60- people who cash their social security checks then waste away in front of the slot machines.
I took the boys hunting for rocks. Ghetto.
Jeff and I had a meeting in Ames about starting a church planting network here in the Midwest. One of the guys attending let us jump in his plane since Iowa City was on his way. It offered some amazing aerial views- the fall colors were beautiful from the sky!
Jeff started a group called the "Gentleman's Academy." The thinking behind it is that most young men are boys with arm pit hair, and there are so many things they need to be taught... how to be gentlemen. So this week, we taught them how to change oil, all while sporting our navy blazers.
We went out with the Thune's the other night and ended up meeting a homeless guy, Willie, who took us to his house- under the bridge.
One interesting thing is that homeless people still tend to be very proud- in this case, Willie didn't want to stay in the homeless shelter because they made him "check in and tell them what he did during the day."
Well, there you have it- a few snapshots into my life for the last couple weeks.

Anthem follow up thoughts

This isn't the usatoday Anthem reflection, filled with color photos and cool stories. It's more of the "deep thoughts" version...

If you had a room full of 1,200 students, listening with open hearts and attentive ears, what would you tell them?

"Faith is risk. And this is the kind of life God intends for you. It's the kind of life He applauds." That's basically what I said, and the one challenge I wanted young people to leave Anthem with.

It's easy to sing songs for 2 hours about having faith, trusting God, and giving Him our lives as an offering of worship. But as I thought about Hebrews 11, and what the "ancients were commended for", I felt led to take it there. I think it's safe to say that God is honored by men and women who step out, who die to dreams of success and live for dreams of sacrifice and risk. That's the gist of Hebrews 11.

I got this email from a friend following Anthem. I think there are some great things to think about...

Hey Mark,

I was at connection group tonight...and we were talking about your definition of Faith as Risk. I can see where you are coming from; a demonstration of faith is when we put ourselves out into a situation that if God doesn't show up, we will suffer loss. That's the basic definition of risk, an action that could result in loss. But as we were talking about it, we came to realize that faith doesn't seem to be risk, but that faith is actually the antithesis of risk. Faith is the confidence that God will act on our behalf. Risk seems to be the acknowledgment that he may not. It appears that the more faith that we have in God the less risky things seem. Your move to Iowa City may have seemed risky but you trusted, had confidence, had faith, that God was going to come through. Therefore, there seems to be very little risk involved because you knew that God was with you. Perhaps it's just an issue of semantics. I don't think you said anything wrong at Anthem. You explained what you meant and it was very challenging and encouraging. But I'm curious, do you see the tension? What are your thoughts?

First of all, I love emails like this. It's not polemic or antagonistic, but genuinely thoughtful and gracious in tone. And I appreciate the discernment- that my words at Anthem were not mindlessly accepted.

Here's what I think: The paradox of faith is that faith is risk and yet not risk at all.

Reading the rest of Hebrews 11 there is the juxtaposition of 11:32-35a and 35b-38. The first group is full of victories and great exploits, while the second stories about brutal deaths and martyrdom. All pretty much in the same sentence.

The point of Hebrews 11 is this: faith means that you lay it all on the line, trusting that eternity is going to be way better than this refugee camp called life on earth. People filled with the kind of faith that gets commended live accordingly, unaffected by the consequences of their faith in action, whether good or bad. The only way to enter heaven safely is to die with eyes on the unseen.

So faith is risk because there are 2 kinds of stories that may be told about your life, "conquered kingdoms" OR "sawed in two." The risk is that following Jesus by faith may get you killed. It may not result in a mega-church or revival or Christian celebrity status. But it may mean all those things (I personally hope not the third. I don't think I have anything to worry about).

Most Americans have an aversion to suffering. Our gods are comfort and success, and we will do anything and everything to preserve those. Faith is stepping into the Unknown. Of course we take the step knowing he'll catch us. So in that sense faith is the antithesis of risk. In that way I suppose the greatest risk is to play it safe and do nothing at all. Hebrews 11 very well could've said, "Playing it safe is being unsure of things hoped for and uncertain of things not seen. This is what the enemies of God were punished for." But again, the faith-risk is that it's the Unknown for a reason- we don't know how he will catch us.

Finally, in light of our brothers and sisters around the world who have given up far more than us to spread the good news about Jesus, our move to Iowa City was a very small sacrifice. We moved from one form of comfort to another. But in our baby step of faith, we have seen God gladly come to our rescue. He has made our path easy, because he knows we are weak.

I think most Christians are bored. A life without risk usually leads to boredom.

So if you're bored with your faith, ask yourself the question, "What risks have I taken recently?" "What did I do last week that if God didn't show up, my plans were doomed to fail?" I have to ask myself these questions all the time. I don't want to be old and talking about how I once took a risk in my 30's.

Risk does not always mean moving to a new city or doing something stupid (i.e. standing up in the school cafeteria or work place and telling everyone they're hell bound). But it usually involves doing something that gives you that feeling in your stomach, "Oh crap, if God doesn't show up I'm in a bad way".

So this was the challenge at Anthem, and it has been fun having these followup discussions and conversations.

As soon as I get some pics I'll do the USAtoday post for those of you who just like pictures and aren't reading this right now.

Anthem is tomorrow!

It was about 4 years and 2 weeks ago that we had our very first Anthem, under a tent in the parking lot at Cornerstone Church. It has morphed into something pretty amazing, and God has used it as an event to stir up the hearts of young people to be undivided in their devotion to Christ.

Tomorrow over 1,000 students will gather for a night of worship and prayer. If you are within driving distance of Ames, Iowa... you should be there!

Here's a sneak preview from Monday's rehearsal...

Is Ryan Seiler going to be there?

Of course.

What about Jesse Antelman?

Yep.

But you'll also see some new faces... Brenton on drums (jumping in for Clint on part of the set)

Wally on bass... (here giving his best bass player pose). Bass players are always a little... unique. No offense Bryan, but you kind of fit the stereotype... Zombie movies and listening to music where 32nd notes at 132 are cool. We'll miss you at this Anthem, Bryan.

If you don't like it loud, bring ear plugs. Phil will have the auditorium rockin'. Our water bottles were vibrating off the stage. I wonder if Isaiah got ear damage from his glimpse of glory with the voices of the seraphs, whose voices were so loud, the doorposts and thresholds shook (Is. 6:4). And the place was filled with smoke. We'll have a little of that, too.

But more than the band, music, hazers, yada yada- hundreds of people have been fasting, praying, and anticipating the presence of God among us in a powerful way. We gather to pray, seek and worship our great God.

See you tomorrow. 8:00 at Cornerstone (Click here for directions)

New Anthem Album is on its way!

Here's a sneak preview of a song on the new album, which will be released on the 27th: http://www.youtube.com/anthemworshipmusic

In other Anthem news...

- Anthem will be opening for Shane & Shane at the Alternative in Ames on August 27 at 8pm at ISU Campanile

- The website got a little update (http://anthemworship.com/). Blogs, twitter, FB, etc will be updated regularly.

- The album is rockin'. I think you're going to like it.