Postlude

Poslude: a closing piece of music.

This past weekend, some friends of our got married! Myself along with my brothers Aaron and Sean and Geoff Carter, who plays piano regularly at Saint Matthew played for the wedding reception. It was mucho fun!

I suckered my bros into playing for worship on Sunday morning, too! At the end of the service we had a little jam session. We'd like to call it a postlude! Click on the link and enjoy a funky jam!

- Jason

Saint Matthew Building Blog

A "Saint Matthew Building Project" blog has been created so y'all can get the latest news and information about the progress of our new buildings at Saint Matthew. You can check it out at http://saintmatthewbuilding.wordpress.com/

The Real Worship War

Mark Labberton is a pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, CA. He's recenlty written a book called The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God's Call to Justice (Zondervan). I heard Mark speak at the National Pastor's Convention in San Diego last February and I was deeply moved by what he had to say.
If you'd like to hear his message from the event, you can download it from the Zondervan podcast here (using iTunes).

Here's an excerpt from his book published in Christianity Today:

The Real Worship War
Forget about choruses versus hymns—what about justice?
by Mark Labberton

At a worship service I attended, my attention was drawn to the enthusiastic worship leader. He opened our time with prayer, asking God to meet us and draw us into the Lord's presence. Then he stood with eyes closed and the band playing. He lifted his hands and offered his joyful praise to God.
That's when I really took notice, for as he sang so rapturously, he kept stepping on the feet of the people behind him. Not just once or twice but repeatedly throughout the singing. No apology. No acknowledgment of his "tromping in the spirit." He was just praising God while oblivious to his neighbor. More

Fall Retreats (men's & women's)

Hey y'all,
The Men's and Women's retreats are coming up! Men's is in three weeks (Sept.28-30) and the women's is two weeks later (Oct 12-14). Get signed up now if you haven't yet! Cost is $150 and it's due on Monday at the latest (for the men).

Here's a little promo video!


- Jason

How Deep How Wide

In July, my wife was ordained as a pastor! The following text was the preaching text for the worship service:

Ephesians 3:14-19 TNIV
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

What a beautiful passage! So, I ended up writing a song for Sara's ordination. It's called "How Deep How Wide"

Music at Mars

Mars Hill Bible Church is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The pastor's name is Rob Bell. If you've ever seen a Nooma video, then you'll know who Rob Bell is. The music they do at Mars Hill is pretty fun and not unlike what we do at Saint Matthew. You can check out the Music at Mars Myspace page and get a nice sample of the music.

The songs they've got playing on the page are:
"Let it Rise", "I Want Jesus To Walk With Me", "You Are" and my personal favorite, "Changed." Enjoy!

Music Updated! Wonderful Concert!

Hey everyone. Music is ready on the website
www.saintmatthew.org/wma/band
if you need password info, e-mail directly.

AND -

WOW, we had a great time on Sunday night at the concert. Keenan and I had tons of fun playing and singing together. We shared half a dozen original tunes as well as some brand new songs from Hillsong. It really was a wonderful, worshipful night. Praise God.

It was all recorded and I'll be mixing stuff down. The recording process was fun and it opens the door to more recording that we could be doing as a worship team. People get ready!