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One of Summit View's favorite worship songs.
My vocal, guitars and help from some friends!

A sample of my slide guitar playing along with my vocals.
Glass bar, Vox guitar amp sounds.
I played slide on an old no name Strat that I sold.

These are notes taken from a worship leaders conference meeting where Matt was teaching,
on Monday 17th of June 1996.

Intimacy in Worship

We're aiming at teens to twenties with what we do and we got to a point recently where we're thinking 'well what should the music be like?... should we have to do all this drum programming and dance stuff?'. We were struggling with that for quite a while. The thing that came out of that was the Lord said to me that you've got to do what's on your heart, and you've got to be real. In the end worship can never be a performance, something you're pretending to do or putting on. It's got to be an overflow of your heart; play what comes out of your heart.

Worship leaders need to be a dedicated student of the Bible. Not every popular Christian song or praise chorus is in line with God's word. The worship leader needs enough of a biblical foundation to discern whether the material he or she is feeding the people is theologically sound. For example, there are songs and choruses that refer to the Holy Spirit as "it" or a "force." Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit is a person, a part of the Trinity and that He can be grieved. He moves in a way that is not necessarily known to the world. But yet His power can heal, save and change lives if we allow Him to do so.

People sometimes ask me what to look for in selecting a worship leader.
Although the choice of a worship leader should ultimately rest with the Lord-- and He may surprise us-- good worship leaders usually have certain earmarks.
Ron Kenoly has written an excellent article on this topic and I would like to share some of his thoughts with you, along with my own comments.

1. "Radically saved and consistently walking with Christ. Some churches, feeling desperate to improve their musical sound, may feel tempted to appoint worship leaders who have little or no spiritual foundation. While musical ability and experience can be a great asset, it should not be more important than a person's character and relationship with God"

Hey everyone;
I would like to keep you up to date on our Aviom personal monitor system. First, I would like all of our musicians to bring their own head phones, CD ear buds, with a 1/4 " input jack adapter whenever you are leading worship at Summit View. You will enjoy the Aviom... it allows you to customize your own monitor mix. You can adjust individual levels of vocals & instruments, bass, treble and pan left or right as well. Also you can save your "mix". We will be rehearsing with the Aviom the Thursday night prior to the Sunday morning you are leading worship. Our goal is to eliminate as many of the Mackie floor monitors as possible. Call or e-mail me if you have more questions!

Hey Steve
 I just read your comments on harmony central and couldn't agree with you
 more on the BC Rich acoustic. I have a B-38 and it sounds and projects
 beautifully. Have you ever had yours appraised? I've been trying to
 determine the value of mine for insurance purposes, but info on the internet
 is very scarce. Probably because anyone who's lucky enough to have one,
 never sells it!
 
 Robert B
Hi Robert;
Good to hear from you. Yeah, its true that there are not too many older BC Rich's around. I know that there was a wide variety in tone and quality from B 28 to B 28. That presents some problems. I don't know much about your B 38.

Steve,
 Saw your review (somewhere) about the T5 and you mentioned you led praise and worship.  I do the same and have been searching for many years for a guitar that I can use that can do double duty with the acoustic and electric sounds I'd like to use.  I've tried the piezo in the bridge electric thing and even the Variax and cannot get the full bodied sound I need at times that only my acoustic can give.  You know what I'm talking about - when you need to lead the band with a strong rhythm, while having a full enough sound to not sound thin.  When I have a full team it is not as important . . . you know what I mean.
Bottom line, do you feel like you can you get a full acoustic sound?  I have an older spruce/rosewood Yairi that is very rich, but I have to put it down if I want to do any electric style. 
 I have a chance to buy a used maple custom at a pretty good price - but I am hesitant to sink $2000+ if it doesn't fill the bill.  I've been all over the sound clips, and I've no question about electric sounds.  It's the acoustic I am most questioning.
 Any comments would be greatly appreciated.  On the one hand, I'm thinking this may be a God thing.  The other "holy grail" piece I've been looking for is the way to get a real tube amp sound in a pedal or box so I can go straight to the board.  Seymour Duncan has a new pedal called the Twin Tube Classic - you may have heard of it.  I just got it day before yesterday and it is IT!!  I can get that warm, overdrive sustain that sounds just like my old Twin Reverb.  It uses real tubes, and I've never heard anything come close.
 

A big part of my musical and spiritual development was spent playing in a winter camp worship band for Hume Lake Christian Camps. At that time, we were known as the "Full Sail" band or "New Sounds of Faith" (Yeah, I know what you are thinking!) For those of you who don't know about Hume Lake, it may be the largest Christian camping ministry on the west coast. Located 4 hours north of Whittier, (where I grew up) my musical bandmates Don Kase, John Eastis, Rick Gramanez and Walt Tilley) would drive up and play for about 9 to 10 weekends in a row. Besides seeing some of the most beautiful winters, helping with the broom hockey competition, some of my best memories are the junior high, high school and college students we met.