post-TWIST review...

Last week I went to a conference called TWIST... Love Christian acronyms... cos TWIST stands for "The Word In Song Together".

I must admit... i always find TWIST refreshing... it's really encouraging seeing so many people singing at the top of their lungs in praise to God.

The speaker was Mike Raiter and he gave 3 talks that were based on some songs through the bible. Something that struck me or gave me something to think about was something i'd heard before and i think that Moore college holds this view of singing worship...
I was challenged to look more closely at lyrics of the songs that are chosen... There are some songs that are repetitive in their "praise God" but never elaborate on the gospel truth behind WHY we praise Him. ND has just put together a music book earlier this year... I think because of the time frame we could have been very hasty in including songs that sounded good but i think i'm gonna have a look back at what we've chosen and carefully examine the lyrics. I remember at the time reading through them and seeing that none were heretical lol so i think we're ok there!

Second talk was from a Psalm... i must admit... sometimes i'm not great at recalling what i've heard... hehe or taking notes during talks... Something i do remember him saying that has kinda stuck with me is the fact that when we sing, we sing with passion because we feel the truth of the gospel. Was chatting to a friend after and we were talking about singing... we dont sing with passion because it makes us feel more spiritual but rather the gospel impacts us to sing with passion... which brings me back to what we're actually singing (lyrics)....

Next time i'm songleading, i might pick one song... let people scroll through the words first before singing it to really think about it... cos sometimes we just sing without really thinking about it... heheeh dunno how that would work... have to think about that one...

There were also workshops at TWIST.. i decided to pick all practical ones this year.
Went to a drumming workshop... figured out that i have no rhythm or co-ordination!!
The band workshop was really good as well. It's really important for the band to work as one and this involves listening to each other and working with one another... It's not a loudness contest (which sometimes ticks me off a bit at church) but a way to build up the rest of the music team and the congregation.

Anyway... what do u do at the end of a music conference?? well jam of course... was really fun just hanging out with brothers and sisters and enjoying music together. Something else from the talks i remember is... in the midst of trouble we can remember that in heaven, nothing will stop God's people from singing his praises... How cool!