If you’re reading this blog, there is a pretty good chance you also write a blog, or used to have a blog, you’re married to a blogger, or you update and comment so often on Facebook, Twitter or Myspace that it’s kind of like you have a blog. So … you should come to the 2009 Band Of Bloggers event in Chicago on April 22. It’s part of the larger 2009 Gospel Coalition Conference, which features speakers like Mark Driscoll, John Piper and Tim Keller.
Band of Bloggers is “an informal fellowship of gospel-committed writers seeking to encourage faithfulness in what is spoken of Christ while raising the standard of discourse to reflect the character of those called to blog worthy of the gospel to which we have been called.” This third Band of Bloggers luncheon conference features some of my favorite bloggers, talking about how to blog for the glory of God and the edification of the church, how to improve your writing and make your website more visible, and more. (My own secret to blogging success? Attach my blog to a site that features the music of the best singers and players I’ve ever been around.)
Speakers for the event are Tim Challies, Steve McCoy, Timmy Brister, Tullian Tchividjian, Mike Anderson, Justin Taylor , Eric Johnson, Owen Strachan, and Tony Reinke. I’ll be there, along with Sojourn Director of Operations Bryce Butler and video master Drew Layman. If you’re coming, please say “hi.” Maybe we could use Twitter to meet up (twitter.com/bobbygilles) Or Facebook me (oh no, I’ve just become one of those people who use Facebook as a verb). Register for the Band Of Bloggers here.
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My biggest project this year has been to spearhead the Sojourn Communication team’s creation of TravelBlog, the online magazine of Sojourn Community Church. It’s three-blogs-in-one, plus resources like a Sojourn Amazon bookstore, large display of our weekly liturgical art on the front page, and an RSS Headline section where you can check out the latest blog posts from all Sojourn blogs. But the biggest part of this endeavor is The B.C. Blog, a blog led by Teaching Pastor Daniel Montgomery and featuring many of Sojourn’s elders and deacons as they provide further insights from our 2009 sermon series on the Old Testament. Here are a couple worship-related articles from the leader of Sojourn Music, Worship & Arts Pastor Mike Cosper:
Psalm 42-43: Hope For Depression And Suffering
Leading Us Into The Throne Room?
Also, check out my own column for TheWorshipCommunity.com, on how to write announcements for Christian worship services. It’s always an honor for me to write a guest post for The Worship Community, a grass-roots effort involving music ministers of all stripes from around the globe.
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Of course tomorrow I will post the second episode of our new eight-part video series, a round table discussion (although the table is technically square) between Pastor Mike, Dr. Harold Best (author of Unceasing Worship) and Professor Chip Stam of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (and founder of the seminary’s Institute For Christian Worship). Then on Thursday I will start a new ten-part audio discussion between myself and Lorie King (a protege of Professor Stam, who received her Masters in Worship from Southern Seminary and came to Sojourn in our first year, as a seminary intern helping us to integrate hymns into our services).
The series is called “Worship: Why We Do What We Do” and will walk through a different part of a standard Christian worship service each week. We’ll begin on Thursday talking about the Call To Worship. Not sure what that is? Think it’s some kind of rigid, High Church liturgical pattern or a dusty old service element that has no place among concerns for seeker-sensitivity? Check out “Why We Do What We Do: The One Where We Talk About The Call To Worship” this Thursday.
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