“A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.’” – Isaiah 40:3

‘Lord‘ is translated from ‘Jehovah‘ as in God Himself. So it’s not His angels or some ambassador, it is God. That’s quite a responsibility. John had that mandate at the forefront of his life’s mission : make a straight path for the Lord. How did he do it? One way was using his voice.

A headless guy named John

In Matthew 3:1-3 we read about John. He was, shall we say, different. Read on from verse 4 to verse 10 and you’ll see just how different he was! His voice was heard clearly and his message was explicit and intentional. He stood up to the religious leaders of the day and did not mince his words. He challenged the religious status quo and just kept preaching the same message that God had given him. Of course, the final result of his preaching was his head being chopped off and put on a platter as birthday gift for someone! Not the most glorious ending for the voice…but the voice was heard and made an impact on all who heard it. Continue reading »

[Before you read this article, don't be misled by the title, ok? It's not like one of those '10 steps to freedom' or '5 weeks to change your life' - those are silly. Keep reading and you'll see what I mean!]

You’re a drummer. You’re a Christian. Perhaps you play drums in your church. Maybe you’re in a band making a living as a musician. You could even be in a band that is evangelical, ministering or leading worship. Whatever your situation, you have a gift, a skill, a talent given to you of great worth and significance. You have the gift of rhythm. You have the ability to use your body and its members to put together beats and patterns, sounds and rhythms that surround us in everday life and let you paint soundscapes that affect body, mind and soul. Isn’t that an incredible gift? Continue reading »

What a short time we have on earth, if you really think about it. In the context of eternity, our entire lifespan doesn’t really amount to that much. So, if you believe in life after death (and even if you don’t), then you should probably make the most of your time on planet earth!

The one thing I do know is this : everyone dies. Now, as terribly pessimistic as that may sound (and probably not the best way to begin an article…although you’re bound by curiosity to continue reading because I know you want to see where I’m going with this!) it’s actually quite positive. Everyone dies because everyone lives. You can only die if you are alive.

I think it was William Wallace who said, “All men die, few men really live.”
My question to you is: are you really living? Are you alive? Continue reading »

I am in the process of writing an article for The Christian Drummer site called “Anatomy of a Drum Solo“. Now, it has nothing to do with Neil Peart but rather the subject of soloing in worship. I am looking at how and when to solo in the context of worship. The article should be published in January 2008 or before (depends how I feel!) as there are lots of other articles still in the ‘publish’ queue!

Here is an excerpt from the article (still a work in progress): Continue reading »

The drums have a wonderful knack of drawing people together, no matter what race or creed. People from all over respond to the power of rhythm. I believe this natural response is just that…a natural response! God has hard-wired our DNA to create and respond to rhythm.

I had the opportunity to be involved in some drum performances and public drum circle facilitation with The Gathering at a massive Christian youth event in Northern Ireland called Summer Madness. I hadn’t had so much fun with percussion in a long time!
Continue reading »