Monthly Archives: January 2008

Here is the continuation of a presentation by Pastor Mike Cosper from an Acts 29 conference in Troy, NY in October 2006, shortly before Sojourn moved into its current building, The 930.  In this mp3, Mike discusses high culture and low culture, as well as other differences between various kinds of art (such as “simple” and “complex” distinctions).  He also dives into the tension between gospel freedom/ Christian liberty and unprofitable license, as well as the danger (and the Christian’s tendency towards) legalism. Around 45 minutes into this talk, you’ll hear that a bat makes it’s way into the conference room, …« Read Entire Post

On October 18, 2006, shortly before Sojourn moved into The 930, our art center and home, Mike Cosper gave a presentation in Troy, NY at a conference for the Acts 29 church planting network. Here is the first part of this two-part presentation on “Missional strategies for the arts.” In this mp3, Mike provides a summary of Sojourn’s early attempts at engaging in the arts, primarily through our first gallery, Aslan’s How.  You’ll learn how a group of very young Christians “just dived in” to the young, artistic culture of their city, making mistakes and learning lessons along the way.  You’ll hear him describe some …« Read Entire Post

Let’s relax a little before we get started with the conclusion to this three-part recap of the first Sojourn Songwriting Seminar, featuring Jamie Barnes: watch Jamie having some fun with his acoustic version of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” in New York City. When we all settled in after a coffee break, Jamie broke us out into groups of four and said, “Two of you make a list of five interesting adjectives. The other two make a list of five interesting nouns. Do it without knowing what each pair is doing.” After a few minutes each pair then shared and combined their adjectives and nouns.  The groups then each …« Read Entire Post

continued from part one. Using Pattison as a text, Jamie taught that metaphor is “a collision between ideas that don’t belong together.  It jams them together and leaves us to struggle with the consequences.”  You’ll recall the example cited in yesterday’s blog column, part one of this series: “An army is a rabid wolf.” (Pattison) Metaphor involves conflict.  You’re comparing things that are not literally true, and for this reason, something like “A house is a dwellingâ€? is not a metaphor — it’s a dry statement of fact. Jamie’s own writing is highly metaphorical, also making use of similes (you’ll …« Read Entire Post

Thanks again to those of you who attended Sojourn’s first songwriting seminar — singer-songwriters and seminary students, rock band members and worship leaders, music professionals and music lovers.  Jamie Barnes did a wonderful job kicking off this series with a talk that focused on lyric writing, using Writing Better Lyrics by Pat Pattison, professor of music and songwriting at Berklee College of Music in Boston, as a text.  Jamie also used examples from his own songs and from artists such as Sufjan Stevens. After a bit of background information on his own career (by the way, you can always visit …« Read Entire Post

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the gospel tells us that God, by the leading of a star, manifested the Savior to the peoples of the earth, and, by the power that enabled Christ to change water into wine, made known his glory to the disciples. Come then to the joyful feast of the Lord and be transformed. Reprinted by permission from The Worship Sourcebook, c. 2004, CRC Publications. This is a great reading for setting your mind on Christ as you prepare for the Lord’s Supper, whether you’re meditating on communion while doing your daily devotions at home during the week or …« Read Entire Post

The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship’s 2008 Symposium on Worship is now underway at their campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan and will continue through the weekend.  Keep up with events there by checking this blog throughout the weekend. Sojourn Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper is in attendance at this Symposium. The Institute recently released a list of “Ten core convictions about worship.”  If interested, you can read their full article with related scripture, questions and resources, and an interview with John Witvliet, director of the Institute and professor of music and worship at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary. Ten Core Convictions …« Read Entire Post

New friends, old friends.  See, the myth isn’t true: not all songwriters are tortured loners.  Many of us mingle!  all images courtesy of Tom Branch Photography Louisville singer-songwriter Rebecca Williams (right) and Sojourn worship leader (and frequent Jamie Barnes’ collaborator) Rebecca Dennison.  And seated, having just burned his mouth on coffee, is singer-songwriter Daniel Crowther. Sojourn worship leader Lorie King discusses service planning and worship team-building with attendees from Amelia, OH – Landmark Baptist Senior Pastor Brandon Little and Worship Team Leader Brian Simpson. I introduce Jamie Barnes, wearing a shirt that Jamie’s wife Kelsey tells me should be buried under molten …« Read Entire Post

“All I Have Is Yours” is the “offering” song on Before the Throne; it teaches the truth that all we have belongs to God.  In practice, we have used this song most often during the communion portion of our church services, during which believers are also invited to contribute their financial offerings by dropping them into baskets before or after taking the Lord’s Supper.  We’ve also used it within the Sojourn community for a baby dedication service and a wedding. I wrote the lyrics as a modern hymn text, then Rebecca Bales (who has since married and changed her last name to “Elliott”) composed …« Read Entire Post

The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship in Grand Rapids, MI has a helpful article for church planters and leaders seeking to design effective worship space, with quotes from Sojourn Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper.  Mike talks about the way we designed the space used for worship at our building, The 930, which we renovated and moved into a little over a year ago. For the first several years of Sojourn’s history, we rented space for our Sunday gatherings.  We are very grateful for the churches that helped us by providing space, but of course owning your own space means you can …« Read Entire Post

Last year before we launched sojournmusic.com, I talked with Chandi Plummer about the new music program for SojournKids, our children’s ministry.  We printed the interview in Travelogue, Sojourn’s bi-monthly journal.  I recently caught up with Chandi to see how the ministry has progressed.  Sojourn Music: Why did you decide to get involved with children’s worship? Chandi Plummer: I am a musician, with a Bachelors and Masters in music. I sing and teach voice professionally, but I only do those things once a week now and have the incredible joy and trial of being a stay-home mom for two kids and a …« Read Entire Post

Thanks to those of you who attended our first Sojourn songwriting seminar today, presented by Jamie Barnes.  We had attendees from North Carolina, Indiana, Ohio and more.  We’ll take you inside this event later this week on sojournmusic.com.  Now, here is a prayer of illumination that is particularly suited for this time of year: We have seen the star of your glory rising in splendor. The radiance of your incarnate Word pierces the night that covers the earth and signals the dawn of justice and peace. May his brightness illumine our lives and invite all nations to walk as one …« Read Entire Post

The WFPK Live Lunch audio archive page now includes the audio file for the December 21 Holiday Singer-Songwriter showcase that featured noted recording artist and Sojourn worship leader Jamie Barnes, along with fellow Louisville-area artists LeAnn Yost (who coordinated the event), Brigid Kaelin, Danny Flanigan and John Mann. Jamie performed two songs on the hour-long program, both from our Advent Songs CD: “Joy to the World,” featuring a new melody he composed for the classic Isaac Watts hymn text, and “Amen, Amen” by Neil and Kate Robins of Dirt Poor Robins. And one more plug for the Sojourn worship arts …« Read Entire Post

From Worship Evangelism by Sally Morganthaler: “Was Paul culturally relevant?  Absolutely.  He built his witness on the basis of their experience, and he spoke in terms they could understand: straightforward Greek, phrased specifically for the philosophical mind.  Yet Paul went beyond cultural relevance; he was culturally redemptive.  Trusting God for the results, he took the Gospel of Jesus Christ — a message that went totally counter to their culture — and applied it to their lives … “If we want our worship to evangelize, let us never forget that we are taking people somewhere.  Our job is to make ‘more …« Read Entire Post

Tonight, Louisville’s AAA radio station, WFPK FM, will rebroadcast the edition of their popular weekly show Kentucky Homefront that featured the Sojourn band last summer, as well as singer-songwriter Andrea Davidson and storyteller Tom Frees.  This show will air from 8-9 pm EST.  Sojourn performed for approximately 20 minutes, playing several songs from Before the Throne as well as classic hymns. You can hear the live stream of this show at the WFPK website in RealPlayer, Windows Media Player and mp3 formats.  In the Louisville area, listen on 91.9 FM. This episode occured during a year that also saw various incarnations of …« Read Entire Post

Listen to this archived audio file of a sermon by Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper, “Psalm 51, a Prayer of Repentance and Renewal.”  Here, Mike teaches about confession and repentance from the life of David.  You can also hear a song of worship based on this hymn, “Of Psalm 51,” written and sung by Rebecca Dennison on our CD These Things I Remember.  We have an mp3 of this song here at sojournmusic.com in the These Things I Remember page.

Courtesty of the SBTS Institute for Christian Worship, here is an mp3 audio file entitled “Sing to the Lord a new, old song” Matthew Smith, leader of the touring band for Indelible Grace (check out their website from our Helpful Links section) discusses the need for hymns in a modern world and the benefit of writing contemporary melodies for classic hymns, which is something Sojourn did on our CD Before the Throne, with Mike Cosper’s new melody for Anne Steele’s hymn “My Maker and My King” and our recording of Vikki Cook’s melody for Charitie Bancroft’s “Before the Throne of God Above.” …« Read Entire Post

Here is a reading to meditate on in your personal worship time today.  Worship planners may also find it useful in corporate settings: God of the Bethlehem star, everyone is searching for your light shining in the face of Christ. The Magi sought Christ simply to worship him. But Herod sought him to appease his jealous anger. We confess that our motives in seeking Jesus are not pure. We do not come simply to worship: we come to Christ, asking his benefits of reassurance, health, wealth; asking him to fulfill the hundred petitions for not-so-important requests that we heap before him. But …« Read Entire Post

Here is part three of an interview conducted by Scott Slucher with Neil Robins: Sojourn musician, producer, songwriter, and member of Astonish Entertainment recording artist Dirt Poor Robins: SM:  How do you guys work together?  What’s your process like? NR:  We do a lot of stuff where I’ve written the song or I’ve got a melody or most of the melody, or an idea for the chorus lyrically, or the concept of the song.  I’ll hand it off to her, and she’ll write the lyrics.  There’s songs where she’ll sit down at the piano and write it entirely, and then …« Read Entire Post

We continue an interview with Neil Robins, a key member of the Sojourn worship band and recording team, and member of Dirt Poor Robins, conducted by Scott Slucher for sojournmusic.com: SM:  Is there an emotional or spiritual arc to the story – going from dark to light, lost to found?  It seems that the songs at the back end are more hopeful.  NR:  I think that the best chance you have of changing is when you reach the end of your rope.  I’ve noticed it about myself.  You may do the same things wrong over-and-over again and even feel bad …« Read Entire Post

Anyone familar with our latest two CD’s, Advent Songs and Before the Throne, has witnessed the stylings and virtuosity of Astonish Entertainment recording artist Dirt Poor Robins (check out their website from our Helpful Links section).  The band consists of the husband and wife team of Neil and Kate Robins (they bring in other musicians on the road), who also are a part of Sojourn’s worship team. They contributed “Evergreen” to Before the Throne, writing, performing and mixing it in their studio.  They also wrote “Amen, Amen” for Advent Songs, and performed their version of “What Child Is This?” on the disc.  In addition, …« Read Entire Post

Pilgrim Radio has added two Before the Throne songs to their playlist: “We are Listening” and “All I Have is Yours.”  The Pilgrim Radio network broadcasts an eclectic mix of Christian music over California, Nevada, Wyoming and Montana, and makes their programming available for world-wide streaming at www.pilgrimradio.com.  Be sure to check them out! We are less than two weeks away from the first Sojourn songwriting seminar.  Our guest host for this inaugural edition, Jamie Barnes, will be doing some in-depth teaching on the mechanics of songwriting — the good, the bad and the ugly – using specific examples of recorded songs, …« Read Entire Post

As noted previously, Jamie Barnes will be leading a songwriting seminar in Sojourn’s building, The 930, at 3 pm Saturday the 19th.  Jamie is a Sojourn worship leader and was involved extensively with our new CD, Advent Songs, as a singer, songwriter and musician.  He is also a professional recording artist, having drawn rave reviews from Billboard Magazine and other publications. Here is an archived performance from January 5, 2007 — an hour’s worth of music from Jamie and “His Deepest Apologies,” a full band with a rotating lineup that joins him on occasion (in this case, Mike Cosper, Eddy Morris, Martin …« Read Entire Post

Epiphany, which has historically been held on January 6 as the day the Church celebrates the revelation of Christ with the coming of the Magi, is also celebrated as part of an entire season in some church traditions.  The season focuses on the teaching and healing ministry of our Lord, leading up to Lent. Here is a Call to Worship for Epiphany, based on Psalm 19:1-4: The heavens are telling the glory of God;      and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech,      and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are their …« Read Entire Post

As discussed many times on this site and in other forums, the idea behind Before the Throne is that ”worship” is not just a style of music or something we participate in together on Sunday, but that it is a life lived before God’s throne — as Harold Best puts it, a “continous outpouring” to God, and a constant communication with Him, a constant response to His call and His love.  We worship God in many ways — not the least of which is in caring for the poor, the sick, and the homeless.  The Louisville Courier Journal website is airing a short video story …« Read Entire Post

Wednesday, January 16 from 8 to 9 pm, Sojourn will be a part of the popular Kentucky radio program Kentucky Homefront, which is broadcast each Wednesday on Louisville’s WFPK 91.9 FM and streamed live to the world via their website’s live audio streaming page. Kentucky Homefront is a long-running program that features music and storytellers from throughout the Commonwealth.  They describe the vision for the program this way: By presenting regional grassroots performing artists in their respective cultural contexts, the artists’ work contributes to the life of the cultural tradition from which it comes and builds on that tradition to …« Read Entire Post

Courtesty of the SBTS Institute for Christian Worship (visit their website from our Helpful Links section) here is an mp3 of a talk led by Bob Kauflin of Sovereign Grace Ministries (who also has a home in our Helpful Links section).  This is a comprehensive lecture on how to write songs for corporate worship, with advice on lyrics, melody, theology and more. And here is a PDF text file of the lecture notes, c. 2005 Sovereign Grace Ministries. Remember that Sojourn’s free songwriting workshop, led by our own Jamie Barnes, is coming up Saturday, January 19 at 3 pm in The …« Read Entire Post