Oasis Mom’s Group – Week 2
Featured Worship Leader of the Month – Jordan McClinton
What is your part in leading worship with Current?
I sing lead and background vocals, as well as play acoustic and electric guitar.
>How long have you been with Current?
Three years as a worship leader with Current, before that I played drums for the Waters Worship Band, which goes all the way back to me playing a Djembe in a living room when we met in a home for church.
>When did you first develop an interest in music?
I first started loving music in elementary school, mostly 80′s rock and heavy metal bands. I started playing percussion in Jr. high, which led to me playing in numerous garage bands throughout middle school. I started singing in our church choir after I got saved, and soon after joined a Christian heavy metal band as their lead singer. Our band went on to become the Worship band for our Youth Ministry – Reload, which Clint Paschall was the Minister of.
>Who are some of your musical influences?
Most of my worship influences come from bands like Hillsong, Hillsong United, Gateway Worship, and Jesus Culture. But much of my musical influences come from bands like Radiohead, MUTEMATH, Arcade Fire, Coheed & Cambria, Derek Webb, Future Of Forestry, and Fleet Foxes, to name a few.
>What does worship do for you, personally?
Worship can be many things, but specifically musical worship in my life means everything to me. Worship is described as an action, it’s something we do in response to an overflowing love we have for God. I am not much of a poet, or a writer, there is not much on this planet that I can do for the Lord that truly invokes my soul, like music does. It is the first connection I had to God on the day I was saved, and it is the one thing that connects my emotions with my heart and my mind, and explodes out of me like it would an over excited dog to it’s master.
>Which song is your favorite Current cover?
Oh goodness…there are so many. You’ll Come, From the Inside Out, Healer are a few. But there is one that holds personal significance to me. Almost 3 years ago, before we even took over the worship ministry at The Waters. Russ and I went to a worship conference at Gateway Church. They played a song that they had just wrote, hardly anyone had ever heard it, and it was my first time to ever hear it in my life. I had such an intense connection with God that night while I sang this song that I literally just learned, that I knew we had to bring it to The Waters Church. The song was entitled God Be Praised, and I would say it is has become somewhat of an anthem for our church. I absolutely love it!
>If you’re not playing music, what are you doing?
So I have three girls, all under the age of five…enough said…I’m kidding. I love spending time with my family. My beautiful wife Angela, daughters Avery (5), Kate (3), Reese (6mo) and I, love to travel, go to the beach, camping, water sports. We enjoy family bike rides around the lakes close to our home. We just love being together.
>When people look at you, what do you hope that they see?
My hope is that the see a loving and faithful husband to my wife, a compassionate and loving father to my children, and a servant to everyone else I encounter.
>What is your “guilty pleasure”?
Alright, I am kind of ashamed to say that I really love playing video games. I know that this is an issue in my life, so I do not own a gaming console. But on occasion, I will get a game for my PC, and will promptly get lost in it for about a week. My wife knows that maybe twice a year, I get a game that I get a little obsessed with it until I beat it.
>What makes a perfect pizza?
I will have to say I am a sucker for veggies on pizza. I literally could eat a veggie supreme pizza every day of my life. Well…maybe not every day, but a bunch!
Oasis Mom’s Group – Week 1
The Earth is Yours
We were so excited to introduce the new song to the church, yesterday! ”The Earth is Yours” by Gungor. From where Current was standing, it seemed to us that you were pretty excited, too, yes? 
As I explained yesterday, God put this song on my heart because I had been feeling convicted about only praising God for what He has done for me. There really are so many good things in my life to praise God for. But is that the only reason I praise Him?
I thought about why I worship God and realized that I was walking a very thin line between praising God and worshipping the things that God had done.
It’s not that I wasn’t truly worshipping Him, but rather that I was losing sight of why He is so worthy of my praise in the first place.
God is not worthy of praise just because of what He has done for us. It is good to remember that He is primarily worthy of praise because He alone is God. He is sovereign, perfect, happy. He is Creator of all.
In the Old Testament, we see many aspects of God’s character and how God’s people praised Him for those characteristics. If you research the names of God, you will see countless titles bestowed upon Him that define the different aspects of His perfect nature.
I am a firm believer that God does not need our praise. He is perfect…without need of anything. I’m also a believer that our praise is not for God’s benefit. When we come before Him and worship in spirit and in truth, He responds to us and reveals Himself to us…changing us from the inside out.
In my own life, I have seen where I have praised God primarily for what He has done instead of for who He is. The danger of this comes when I begin to see God’s existence as merely for my own benefit.
I believe that this is why–even though God does not need our praise–He wants our praise! He wants us! When we go to Him regardless of what He has or hasn’t done for us, we begin to truly see Him for who He is–apart from our own need of Him.
And as God reveals Himself in that way, we let go of false ideas of who we have expected God to be. We begin to understand His true nature.
This is the whole idea behind the song, “The Earth is Yours.” When we sing these lyrics with our hearts focused on who God is, instead of only what He has done, we choose to proclaim His sovereignty, His Lordship over us. The earth is Yours, God…and everything in it. Hear us crying out!
Your voice it thunders
The oaks start twisting
The forest sounds with cedars breaking
The waters see You and start their writhing
From the depths a song is rising
Now it’s rising from the ground
Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord
The earth is Yours and singing
Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord
The earth is Yours
The earth is Yours
Your voice it thunders
The ground is shaking
The mighty mountains
Now are trembling
Creation sees You
And starts composing
The fields and trees
They start rejoicing
Now it’s rising from the ground
Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord
The earth is Yours and singing
Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord
The earth is Yours
The earth is Yours
And now it’s rising from the ground
Now it’s rising from the ground
Hear us crying out
Hear us crying out
Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord
The earth is Yours and singing
Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord
The earth is Yours and singing
Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord
The earth is Yours and singing
Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord
The earth is Yours
The earth is Yours
Featured Worship Leader of the Month – Debra Peikert
>What is your part in leading worship with Current?
I play the keyboards and sing.
>How long have you been with Current?
I started with Current back in March, I believe.
>When did you first develop an interest in music?
I really can’t remember. My mom was in a gospel trio when she was pregnant with me so I guess it’s been since before I was born.
>Who are some of your musical influences?
My mom was the biggest influence on me. My sisters and I say she is in heaven now teaching the angels how to sing and play. She played piano, organ, guitar, fiddle and accordian… pretty much anything with strings. I have to admit that she couldn’t learn how to play saxophone. I tried really hard to teach her but she never got it. LOL.
The other influence was Elvis Presley. I loved (and still do) his voice but not only that, I loved his heart. I’ve heard so many times about how Elvis LOVED to sing gospel. His love of people and music is something that I’ve always admired. On a funny note… my mom told me when they announced he died that I just stood looking at the radio and asked “who am I going to marry now?”. Ironically, I was only 7 yrs old.
>What does worship do for you, personally?
Worship for me comes in many different fashions. When a song hits me, the tears start flowing. I’ve been on stage pretty much my whole life so hearing gospel / praise songs is very routine for me so I catch myself sometimes not allowing the meaning of the song to really sink in. When I stop and actually pay attention to the message, it gets to me. For me, music has the ability to change the mood I’m in… you add to that a message of God’s love and well… it just doesn’t get any better than that.
>Which song is your favorite Current cover?
I would have to say “You Are For Me” is one of my favorites. I LOVE the keyboard part to start with, but the whole message of the song is so touching. The message that God is for us, no matter where we are… he is for us. What an awesome message!
>If you’re not playing music, what are you doing?
Oh wow… those that know me know this is a loaded question. When I’m not playing music, I’m either working one of my full time or part time jobs or actually enjoying a weekend off with my wonderful husband, Kevin. We don’t have many opportunities to just chill out.
>When people look at you, what do you hope that they see?
This may not make a lot of sense to many however I would really hope that people see something in me that people saw in my mom. It has been my goal to touch as many peoples lives as my mom did. When she died, the church couldn’t hold the amount of people that showed up for her funeral…the Mississippi Congress took a day off in remembrance of her. She loved everyone and I truly hope that people see that quality in me…a person that loves God and tries to love others in the same way.
>What is your “guilty pleasure”?
I shouldn’t admit it but I love to drive fast. A dream come true for me would be to be a race car driver…if only I could do that without having to worry about the crashing part. lol
>What makes a perfect pizza?
A perfect pizza? I like the California Garlic Chicken pizza. I have to admit my favorite food is sushi though. I don’t think they make a sushi pizza…yet!
Adrift
James 1:5-8 (The Message)
“If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who ‘worry their prayers’ are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.”
Adrift. Not a word we use too often in everyday conversation. And yet, this week I have heard or seen
this word half a dozen times. Sometimes that’s how God gets me to seek out something that He wants me to know. So this morning, I turned to the free online dictionary to see what it had to say about this word.
Adrift: adv. & adj.
1. Drifting or floating freely; not anchored.
2. Without direction or purpose.
I have certainly felt this way at one time in my life or another. But if you were to ask me if I had an anchor, of course I would say, “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord” (a lovely gospel song).
There are times in our lives where the storms come and there is no denying that we need an anchor. We are tossed and thrown around by unrelenting waves, and we immediately know that it’s time to get to safety…time to find steady ground. In these times our need for our Savior is obvious. It’s interesting how easy it is to feel anchored when the waters are calm, though.
If you sit in a boat early in the morning–maybe a fishing pole in your hand and the sun is just coming up–the water can be so calm, almost like glass with no visible waves or choppiness in the water. The stillness can be deceiving, though. The small, subtle movements of the water can end you up much further from where you started, without you ever having noticed while it was happening.
It’s at this time that you look back and see that maybe it would have been a good idea to lower your anchor.
I’m not saying that we can always be prepared for what comes at us in our lives. Most of the time none of us could have guessed what trials we would face. The difference for those that follow what this verse in James says, is that we recognize our need for our Savior before the storms come, and we anchor ourselves in Him.
This has everything to do with worship. Our praise to our Savior is not meant to be saved for those moments when we need saving. We were created to be in constant fellowship with the Lord. To walk with Him and talk with Him. To find an anchor in Him and His word so that when life starts tossing us around, we are steady and secure.
Please don’t save your praise and worship of our God for Sunday mornings. The abundance of the Christian life is meant to be had between Sundays. So that when we gather together for worship on Sunday morning, we can celebrate what God has done in and through us in the midst of a world without an anchor.
Waves: A Testimony
Galatians 5:13-14 “You, my brothers and sisters were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
The idea for this ministry began in me when I was in a very sad and low place. I was and still am suffering in a lot of ways from the tragic loss of a dear friend. While dealing with this I learned about a ministry in my hometown, Pampa, TX where some classmates of mine had moved back and were starting a church that was based in serving others and the community. They are called Paint This Town Red and their goal is to paint the entire town with the love of Christ. I read about them online and couldn’t stop checking them out. I longed to be a part of it. I knew that if I could just find a way to serve others it would help with my healing.
There is something tremendously healing about love and service and letting God’s love flow through you. So I started talking to God about it. I wanted to be a part of this and a group like this, but how. I mean I live 10 hours away from Pampa so being a part of that particular ministry was not an option. I started looking online for local ministries and organizations similar to this one, but nothing felt right. That is when the Voice I couldn’t ignore really began. It kept saying, “You are already a part of a group like this and I put you there for a reason”. I argued for while, because starting something like this is miles from my comfort zone. The Voice didn’t back down. “This ministry already exists in this church, when are you going to do your part.” I finally couldn’t ignore it any more and here we are.
I really wanted to share this with you all, because you need to know that this ministry isn’t something Aaron and I are starting here. We are just organizing it. This church is so different than anything we have ever experienced. We have grown so much here and been challenged in so many ways. When I tried to pinpoint what that difference was it finally seemed so obvious. There is freedom in this church. We are free to be who we are and encouraged to do what God asks us to do. We have leaders who acknowledge and encourage us to act like the freed men and women that we are. Appearances aren’t valued over freedom. Freedom is celebrated here. If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed (John8:36)! So the point of this ministry is what will you do with that freedom?
What about denominations?
Here is an explanation as to why our church isn’t connected to any denomination.
