tales from the briar patch

i found a cool blog called "Tales from the Briar Patch". this post caught my attention:



I've started listening to worship music again...



For a long time I quit listening to worship music. Part of it was due to my own sense of disconnect and part of it was the increasing commercialization of VMI under the auspices of BMG (if it works let's find the formula and run it into the ground). And then several months ago several things happened to shift my thinking.



The Vineyard shifted control of Vineyard music from under the auspices of BMG and back to the church.

Their motto is: By the church, for the church....That resonates with me.



Heres the other thing that got me jazzed.

They gave away over fifty thousand dollars worth of music to Prison Fellowship and as a result the folks at prison fellowship are starting to incorporate worship into their ministry...awesome!



So I started listening to worship music again.



The bonus has been a marked increase in my ability to hear the Spirit's voice once again and a growing sense of clarity about what I'm called to do.



I really like what is happening in the Vineyard generally. There seems to be more of a responsiveness to pastors and an openness to change.



I like the fact that we have guys like Lance Pittluck, Rich Nathan, Bert Waggoner, Don Williams, and others involved in our direction. I like the fact that the Vineyard is steered by pastors trying to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and not by professional administrators.



I like the fact that these same pastors are continually growing churches and mentoring new pastors, the fruit of that is that, statistically the Vineyard as a movement is growing younger instead of older.



And ultimately that gives me hope for those of us in the Southeast that struggle to plant kingdom oriented churches in the Bible Belt.



amen. good stuff.