My First Post

One of my goals for 2013 was to start blogging. I just made it in under the wire.

I hope this blog can be a forum for exploring several themes that relate to my calling in life: worship (both public/corporate and private/devotional), ethnomusicology, ethnodoxology, scripture engagement, mission, development issues, theology, church polity, the arts (broadly defined), preaching, and qualitative research.

If I have a life verse it is probably 1 Corinthians 14:15:


Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand. (New Living Translation)


My primary goal for twelve years as a missionary to the Philippines was to see churches worship (especially to sing) with understanding. My calling now is still the same, but my vocation is to serve the church as a pastor. Most of the posts in this blog will relate to those themes in some way. May the posts begin...