2 New Worship Projects On The Way!

Lead Sheet and Chord Charts for "What Amazing Love"

Well, it’s been a bit of a music frenzy around here the past few days!  Not only were we getting ready for the new single “What Amazing Love” to release via iTunes but we also made the decision on Tuesday to record and produce another live worship album at CFCC for the 35^th Anniversary celebration of this great church!  Two big announcements in just a few days is fun and also brings a lot of details to process.  I love it!

As if that wasn’t enough, now that “What Amazing Love” has finally gone public beyond our own beloved Northwest we’re moving on with the rest of the “Kingdom” EP project that it has been intended to be a part of all along!  The purpose of this is to lay down some studio quality versions of some of my songs that are easily accessible to both churched and unchurched people.  These five songs will be in a radio-friendly format and are packed with some really solid gospel theology and simple devotion with the power to impact and change lives!   Our goal is for this project to be evangelistically useful both here in Missoula and in our upcoming move to Spokane.  “We Are Forgiven,” a song I co-wrote several years ago with Arlina Duong and Heather Thomas is already recorded for the project and ready for the finishing touches and mixing.  It’s a celebration of God’s forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ, and declares our mission to show and tell the world this Good News!

Other cuts on this 5-song EP will be a CFCC favorite, “Kingdom of God,” which is a paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer, and “Send Us,” which emphasizes that when we pray, “Your kingdom come,” we are also agreeing with God’s purpose to bring His kingdom in and through us.  Though He doesn’t need us to advance His will on the earth, in His sovereign purpose He has chosen to move through His people, His church – that’s us!  Another ‘oldie’ that we’ve done for years at various weekend retreats but never done publicly will arguably be the most fun song in the list:  “It’s So Good” is the greasiest, bluesiest (is that a word?) song I’ve ever written and I can’t wait to record it and send it to John Lanferman!  (We just performed it live with a full band for the first time yesterday morning in church.  Yes!)  Finally, we’ll round out the project with “It’s Beginning To Rain.”  It will be our latest tip-of-the-hat to U2, one of my favorite bands of all time, and the band that has more influenced modern worship music than any other, in my humble opinion.

New CFCC Drum Booth!

So, all of that recording fun will be happening right along with the planning for the live worship recording and planning toward Spokane.  The new drum booth has been installed on the CFCC main stage which sets us up really well for future live projects.  Awesome!  Now to get a drummer… and a band… and a church… in Spokane!  (For a minute there, you thought I was slamming our CFCC drummers, didn’t you!  Not a chance… they’re the best!) 

New Single Release!

We are so happy to announce the release of Jon's latest single, "What Amazing Love!"  This song has been a long time in production and we are thrilled that it is finally ready.  You can find it on iTunes, purchase an mp3 from us at CD Baby by clicking on the button on the right, and even listen for free on our Facebook page or youtube.  We'd be very honored for you to leave us some love on iTunes by either rating the song or writing a review (especially if you like it)!  The chord chart is already posted under our "The Songs" tab at the top of the blog.  Jon's working on a post with more music updates for later in the week, so be on the look out for that!

Why Plant Another Church in Christian America? (Part 5)

As we prepare to move to Spokane this summer to begin the process on the ground of launching Grace Church Spokane, we do so from our home church of Clark Fork City Church in Missoula, Montana.  I’ve noticed a funny thing:  as great as CFCC is, not many people make the drive on Sunday morning from Spokane to come to church in Missoula.  I’ve also noticed that though there are Christians who do make the drive to Missoula from nearby towns to come and worship with us, not many of their friends who live where they do are added to our church.  This is just one of the reasons church planting is so important, even in the context of one metropolitan area.

From Neighborhoods…

The city limits of Spokane and Spokane Valley host about 300,000 people.  The metro area has 300,000 more for a current grand total of around 600,000 people.  They aren’t all going to fit in my living room.  Or in any of the existing churches in Spokane.  Or in the largest building we could erect.  This is why we need to have a mindset of church planting even within the various neighborhoods of Spokane.  Since the best way to impact a neighborhood is to be a part of it, I envision not just one neighborhood church of a few hundred people, but gatherings to the north, in the Whitworth and Mead areas; a central location near the University District; one in the South Hill; another in the Valley; another in Hillyard; and still another by the Eastern Washington University campus out in Cheney.  (Unless you too are a die-hard University of Montana alum and Griz fan, you have no idea how cross-cultural it is to talk about planting a church near EWU!)

To Cities And Nations…

As Bilbo said to his nephew in The Lord of the Rings, “It’s a dangerous business Frodo, going out your door.  If you step onto the road and you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to.”  The Great Commission calls us onward from our own living rooms, neighborhoods and home towns to wherever God will send us.  Every people group, every socio-ethnic population in the world, has a place in the kingdom of God.  Jews and Gentiles.  Rich and Poor.  From the Tattoo clans to the Cowboy-booted Marlboro Men, from the urban coffee connoisseur to the tenement-dwelling single mom, these people are all a part of the fabric of Spokane – but they’re also all over the world!  Imagine those people groups within a city uniting under the banner of the good news of Jesus Christ to partner together to reach those same people groups globally.  We’ll send some right from Grace Church Spokane and we’ll also partner with other like-minded churches around the world.  Places like Mexico.  Russia.  Ireland.  Kenya.  Estonia.  England.  Cities like Chicago.  Tacoma.  London.  Rio.  St Petersburg.  We actually have friends in these places who think like we do!  It’s a big world loved by an even bigger God – and He has filled our hearts with His passion to see lost people saved!

Cross-Cultural Church

I’m not naïve.  Well, maybe I am.  I’m a dreamer and a visionary so I tend to think in giant terms.  I’m dreaming and making plans toward a church of thousands of people locally, representing the various people groups of Spokane and affecting millions on a multi-national scale.  I also recognize that I’m just one middle-class white guy in my mid-30’s who is married to a white girl in her 29-forever’s and that we will naturally attract people who are similar to us.  We have 2.5 children (okay, 3 children) and we have to balance church planting with parenting, homework, Boy Scouts and Irish Step Dancing.

We will have to work hard to make in-roads and relationships with others in Spokane who are older, younger, richer, poorer, darker, whiter (if that’s possible) etc.  However, since the Book of Acts shows us churches like the one in Antioch with a multi-cultural leadership that sent out the likes of Paul and Barnabas to impact the world, I’m asking and thanking God for a church that represents this right in Spokane.  Together we will embrace this vision and see a vibrant church established in this great city – quickly becoming our city.

·        We envision young and old of various socio-economic backgrounds committing together to plant churches and extend the kingdom of God together in the neighborhoods of Spokane and in other cities and nations.

In a nut shell, Grace Church Spokane is going to be a place where our common identity and mission in Christ so supercedes our differences that the people groups, cities and nations of the world can come into clear focus.  Rich and poor will serve together.  Single guys and families.  College students and business professionals.  Grandmothers and single moms.  Nations mixing.  The kingdom of God.