David Whiting Live

Things to Consider Before Going to Church Tomorrow

Here are some things to consider before showing up @ Northridge tomorrow:

1. In case you think "singing" and "worship" are exact synonyms - consider this before tomorrow morning:
   
   “Now it is totally true that we worship as we sing. But that is only one aspect of worship. We have subtly taught (in my opinion) a reductionist view of worship limiting it primarily to music and singing as what defines the word and practice… in terms of sacrifice – singing doesn’t cost us too much. We mentally and emotionally bring ascent to our thoughts as we sing and focus on God. But we aren’t really sacrificing something. Are we?” — Dan Kimball
   
   
2. If you get a few minutes, read Ephesians 6:5-9 and pray that God uses this well-known passage in your life tomorrow.
   
   
3. Would you consider serving others and parking far? Thank you to those of you who do this every day. I am convinced God is and will reward you. For those who haven't done it yet - would you consider helping us out by parking off site? Even if you only come to the first service... the in between times can be very difficult. Thanks for considering it.
   
   
4. I can't wait for the final song tomorrow. You will enjoy it and be encouraged by it! Hope you don't miss it!

See ya' tomorrow.

"Our God" and Christian Rap

One of my favorite worship songs that we sing at Northridge Church these days is "Our God."  The chorus says, "Our God is greater; our God is stronger; God You are higher than any other..."  Maybe you recognize it.

This morning, I watched a video with that song PLUS it had a Christian Rap in the middle.  I'm old enough that I have no idea who the rapper is, but my guess would be Lacrae - because he's the only Christian rapper that I hear of these days, and the college students in the audience seemed rather excited when he came out on the stage.

BUT anyway, hearing "Our God" by the original artist (Chris Tomlin) plus the rap... well, it was pretty great!  I LOVE the strings in this arrangement.  We are going to have to work on this arrangement for our band (minus the rapping, mind you).

If you have five minutes - watch the first song from this link: http://live.passion2011.com/

If you are going to watch this, you will have to do it before the next session of PASSION 2011 - as it will become the live feed for session two around 10:45 AM this morning (1/2/11).

Q&A on Music and Church - part 2

Here is part 2 of the video on Q&A with church music.  It is part of the promotional videos for the 16:5 conference in January (10-11, 2011). 

How and Why Did You Change Worship Styles - part 2 from David Whiting on Vimeo.

 

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Q&A on Music and Church

We have our 16:5 conference coming up in January (see website HERE). The conference is to help churches think through issues of faithfulness and fruitfulness.  It will discuss proper parameters of cultural relevancy. We've started some Q&A videos for the conference.  Here is part one of a Q&A on music.

Why and How Did You Change Music Styles? - part 1 from David Whiting on Vimeo.

 

As always, if you receive this by email click HERE or click on the title above.

A Modern Hymn (that's addictive)

I grew up on hymns... I still love them.  But because of our target at Northridge, I'm constantly on the lookout for hymns that still fit our culture (not just a "saved-since-I-was-five-years-old" culture), but the "I-was-saved-Thursday-and-I'm-walking-into-church-for-the-first-time"... will this connect with them? This month's song of the month is a great one for me. Although the lyrics are deep (and fast) - the more you sing it, the more you will "catch."  Enjoy it this month!

It is by Keith & Kristyn Getty, who also wrote great modern hymns like, "In Christ Alone", "The Power of the Cross", and "How Deep Our Father's Love for Us."

Hearing Brittany sing it the last two weeks makes me love the song even more.  I LOVE IT!  If you want to get it yourself, it is called "Come, People of the Risen King."  If you want the entire CD, it is from "Awaken the Dawn" by Keith & Kristyn Getty who specialize in writing modern, Christ-centered, cross-focused hymns. 

I heard an interview recently with the Getty's about this song. They said that if you listed all of their songs - almost all of them are "invitation / end of service" type songs.  They wanted an "opener" that was still cross-centered.  They got it done!!

My favorite lines from the hymn:

• "Come, people of the risen King who delight to bring Him praise"
  (I love that! That's ME!!!)
• "O Church of Christ, rejoice!"
  (I love the community aspect of this. We are telling each other -- Come on - let's rejoice! This is the greatest news in the world!)
• "His mercies... follow us through all our days with the certain hope of peace."
  (I love the theme of HOPE and PEACE right now. Great themes that we have because of Christ!)
• "Come young and old from every land... Over all the world His people sing."
  (Again, the community call - but not just OUR body... the recognition of the lack of geographic boundaries or age restrictions for the body of Christ.  All of us - every age - every place - REJOICE!)
• "The Truth that cries through every age - 'OUR GOD IS ALL IN ALL'"
  (I'm not sure of a better line in any song right now. What a line to rejoice in.)

If you want to hear it (original version) without purchasing, click HERE.

Volume Levels at Church

Here is a document we have at our information desk for those who have questions about volume levels at Northridge Church.

Volume Levels and Hearing Safety @ Northridge Church

Introduction

Thanks for your questions and comments about Northridge Church's choices on sound volume levels during our church services. We knew that entering our new building with the new sound system, we would likely receive questions, thoughts, and suggestions. We take any questions about the safety of our volume levels extremely seriously and are continuously evaluating what will serve our congregation most effectively in the long run.

Standards of Safety

Because the pastors and staff of Northridge are not scientific experts, we are thankful that the US government has done much research in the area of hearing safety. The government's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has researched and published its recommended sound levels for employees.

You can find their chart of safe sound levels by clicking HERE.

To summarize the article, OSHA standards for permissible sound levels, given various lengths of time are the following:

15 minutes per day - 115 dBA
30 minutes per day - 110 dBA
1 hour per day - 105 dBA
1.5 hours per day - 102 dBA
2 hours per day - 100 dBA
3 hours per day - 97 dBA

The table goes further, but we will stop there since it is very rare that the church will ever have more than one hour of music in a particular service, let alone more than three hours. 

Applying These Standards to Northridge Church

In order to adhere to these standards at Northridge, we use a sound pressure level meter to measure the volume levels. For most services, we target a sound level of 88dB to 95 dB. Only occasionally will we go beyond that level, though sometimes the levels could reach as high as 100dB. 

(For a more technical explanation, ask for the document at the info desk.)

Example for Consideration

On a typical Sunday morning, you will normally experience about 20 to 25 minutes of music. At a Vertical Worship service, it may be 40 to 45 minutes of music. Let's round up to one hour to be safe. That person can listen to music at 105 dB without concern for hearing damage. The normal maximum level of 95dB is well below that threshold. 

Safety, Comfort, and Preference

Finally, we must acknowledge that even within the range of safe sound volume, various people will have strong volume preferences. Scientific findings will not necessarily make it easier for people to enjoy sound levels that are higher than they desire. And we know that Northridge's historic sound level is much lower than current goals. 

The sound engineer is responsible to ensure that the sound levels do not exceed safety standards. However, within those guidelines, Jeff Mapes and Mark Nelson work with the sound crew to choose the levels on Sunday mornings, as the sound engineer changes from week to week. If you have concerns about a specific meeting you have attended or will attend, please contact Jeff Mapes, Mark Nelson, or David Whiting. One of them should be able to tell you the dB level used at that service.

We also know even within the OSHA guidelines there are some who have extra sensitive hearing. And it could cause a level of physical discomfort due to certain sounds or the overall volume. If this is your experience, please know that we are very sorry for the discomfort. The discomfort does not necessarily mean that your hearing is being damaged.

What we have most often discovered is that one's personal preference for musical styles affects their appreciation of the volume level. One might love a domineering, body-shaking pipe organ at 100dB, but be irritated by a worship band at 95dB. Because of that, we encourage the use of earplugs, and will offer a supply of them at the information desk. 

In Conclusion

As we told the church when we moved into the new building, it will take us six months to work out sound issues, and we continue to experiment to find what is working best for us. We want the volumes appropriately loud, and will continue to work on the right mix for our building and church. Thanks for your patience! We will continue to find the right balance of appropriately "loud."

Thanks again for your comments and questions about our sound levels. We appreciate your courage to bring your thoughts to our attention, and we hope that your concerns have been addressed here. If you have any more questions at all, please feel free to contact Jeff Mapes, Mark Nelson, or David Whiting.

* This document is based on a similar document used by Covenant Life Church; we thank them for their permission to use its contents.

Northridge Band Try-outs - A Video

It is a week of videos... I've been asked several times in recent weeks to share the videos we've been using - so we slowly uploading them.  Here is another one. It is the one we used for try-outs for our Praise Band. Mark Dudley has the ability to do two things very well: 1) make me laugh, and 2) embarrass his wife. He does both masterfully in this video.

As always, if you receive this by email - click on the title above or click HERE.

A Good Tired

After preaching three times on Sunday morning and leading worship Sunday night - I was tired. Often I'm tired because I've been up late watching a movie, playing a game, doing emails, or solving a problem. Those are all good things.

But it seems to me that...

• It is especially good to have a very tired voice on Sunday night and Monday morning because you sang so loud, long, and hard with God's people in worshiping Him.
• It is especially good to have tired arms from holding them up in worship of my Creator, Savior, Sustainer, Redeemer.
• It is especially good to be tired after working hard to communicate the continuity of the Bible as seen in the Divided Kingdom three times to a church I love.
• It is especially good to be tired after working hard with a group of great musicians to prepare to lead a church body in celebrating God. 
• It is especially good to be tired after preaching 13 Sundays in a row without a break (although I do look forward to being blessed by Scott's teaching this next Sunday).
• It is especially good to be tired nearing the finish line of a huge building project (almost four-years since the first investigative meeting)

How many professional football players were tired Sunday after playing football? How many in Rochester have been tired shoveling snow this month? How many have been exhausted after working on a difficult project at work and seeing it succeed? How many were tired after staying up until midnight with friends and family a couple of weeks ago? Being tired is a great thing!

Being tired after serving Christ with all of one's heart, soul, mind, and strength is a particular blessing - I think.

A Highlight of My Life

Sunday night was a huge ministry highlight of my life. After not leading worship for several months, I came out of "retirement." But what made it special was that I led a couple of songs with my daughter, Morgan. We postponed Vertical Worship one week because of last Sunday's weather - so we lost our female vocalist (who went back to Cedarville). So I asked Morgan to step in for two songs. And my heart was filled with joy to share that experience with her. She has a great voice, but I'm more moved by her desire to please God and use the gifts she has been given by Him.

Yet, public serving is a scary thing. Jesus said that the only way to be sure of your reward is to serve privately; when you serve privately, your motives are more likely pure (Matthew 6). But there are some areas of service that are impossible to do completely privately, and many of them are VERY public. Jesus' point was always about motive.

Here are the four things I talked to the girls about:

ON THE POSITIVE SIDE:

• Using the gifts God has given for His glory is among the most fulfilling moments of life. There are very few things that compare to living for God's glory, using your gifts to impact others. There is great joy in that.
• There is nothing like doing what you love with people that you love. Last night I led worship with a group of friends (Mark, Gary, Jim, Willie, and Harlan). I serve on staff with a group of friends. For all 18 years of my pastoral ministry, I've had the unbelievable joy of doing what I love with people I love. So to do what I love (lead people in worshiping God) with one of my daughters - - - it is hard to describe. There is nothing better in ministry.

ON THE "HARD SIDE":

• People's approval can be addictive. Fight against living for pleasing people (Gal. 1:10). This is a constant battle for those who serve in front of a group of people. Public serving can mess people up.
• Fight pride. Just because you have gifts that others do not have doesn't make you better than them. It just makes you different, and you have to live with the burden of having a gift that gets occasional attention. My wife would never want to stand in front of a group of people, yet she is equally as gifted as those who have "public" gifts.

What a great highlight for me; what a teachable moment for my family!

Why No Cantata on Sunday?

In the last week, I've been asked a couple of times why we don't do Christmas cantatas (although I'm not really sure what that word means - it 'feels' Spanish).

I've talked about this before, but thought it may be a good reminder.  The bottom line reason is that we want holiday Sundays to feel as much like a "normal" Sunday as possible. Here are some of the specific reasons we don't do cantatas at Northridge:

• We don't want someone to get invited to a special Sunday, be impressed, then come the next week and have it be TOTALLY different. It would feel like a "bait and switch."
• We think however a church "wins" people is how we best "keep" people.  If someone is attracted to God and His Gospel through our "normal" preaching and singing - then they will most likely stay around when the holiday is over.  But if someone is attracted to God and His Gospel through church softball, large outreach events, or cantatas - they rarely "stick" when it comes to long-term discipleship. We want to "win" people in the same way that we "keep" people. 
• Most church cantatas I've seen only impress "insiders." Especially on Sundays where more visitors will likely attend, we want to be sure that we are thinking about how "outsiders" may hear and see something (1 Corinthians 14:23 seems to indicate we should at least consider this). Our culture has Hollywood expectations, and often "insiders" can be as easily pleased as parents attending their elementary child's piano recital. It's only parents that love piano recitals. And it is only insiders who love cantatas.
• The amount of man-hours to pull of a quality cantata is huge... for a one-hour program. Just do the math. Imagine a choir of 50 with 15 practices that last 90 minutes each. That is a total of 1125 ministry hours to prepare for a program that is typical "insider" friendly and "outsider" unfriendly (unless the outsider grew up in church attending Christmas cantatas). Imagine what could be done with over a thousand extra ministry man-hours!

So - that is why Christmas Sunday felt like most every other Sunday. On holiday Sundays - the goal is the same. The target is the same. I have nothing against Easter or Christmas plays or cantatas. We just don't think they best serve our purposes at this point in our church's ministry.