Thursday, December 4, 2008
Leading Worship for Providence Academy
Today, VIVIT led worship for Providence Academy (the school that Josh and Brandon go to). It was such an amazing experience. Leading worship with other people has got to be one of the greatest things I can do (to me, anyways).
Here are some pictures and a video of us leading worship.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Videos of leading worship at Lifeway Christian School
Leading Worship for Lifeway Christian School
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
What's Up?
There are still lessons with Neil Greenhaw on Mondays, but practices have been limited to just Fridays because of the hectic academic and activity schedule... soccer, basketball, track, etc. Lauren is continuing vocal and acoustic lessons. Josh is taking private guitar lessons with Neil and Brandon is taking private bass lessons from the same instructor as Lauren. Josh, Brandon, Lauren and Caleb Taylor are performing worship songs at church during the offertory.
Caleb Lee quit the band because it has turned into more of a praise and worship band and he is interested in doing more than just songs about God. He will be missed and this has not affected their friendship. He repeatedly and sincerely encouraged them to find another drummer, so that is in the works.
It has been exciting to see what the Lord is accomplishing in the lives of everyone in the band. Please keep them in your prayers.
Monday, August 4, 2008
VIVIT painting their practice room
Saturday, August 2, 2008
What's Up???
The band has also enjoyed going through the books listed on the right side-bar. They have just finished up the first 5 chapters together in "Worship Matters" which is an excellent book they highly recommend... not just for those who sing and play instruments. It is a book fr all Christians because worship for His glory is what we are all called to do.
They still practice just about everyday at the Nunley home. Plus, they are working on painting and decorating their new music room. Hopefully we will get some pictures up of that adventure soon. Some of the paint did end up on the walls. :-D
For the purpose of longing to do the fundraiser justice, they are taking it more slow than originally projected. We were hoping to do it before school started this Fall, but to do it right we felt their needed to be more time and prayer and planning. So it looks like it will be fully unfolding later on. We will let you all in on the details at some point, but would sincerely appreciate your prayers.
In the meantime, press on for His glory alone.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
VIVIT Live Performances on Youtube
We also wanted to share one of their practice sessions. This is a song, "Dare You to Move" by Switchfoot, that their instructor taught them 4 days earlier. We will tape more of their practice sessions in the future for a couple of reasons: It allows them to hear themselves and give constructive feedback or suggestions on how to tweak the song. It also allows them to see if they are ready to perform that song. They had not yet practiced "Dare You to Move" that day, so this is the first run-through of several, but I thought they sounded excellent. They made a few changes after viewing the video and performed it the next day at a 4th of July celebration on Grand Lake in Oklahoma. And Yes, that is Josh hiding behind his music stand. He was actually sick that day and through the performance the next day, but he persevered.
Soli Deo Gloria
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Fund Raiser For Soldiers & Bind Up the Broken
We are working in conjunction with a new facility in Rogers that will allow us, and anyone interested, in gathering support by asking for sponsors to donate money for each basketball free throw you make within a 30 second time frame during this fund raising venture. The funds will go towards the needed hot weather shirts and any additional funds raised will be donated to Bind Up the Broken, a branch ministry of The Shepherd's Crook that is devoted to providing medical aid to orphaned special needs children who are currently still waiting in other countries for a family to adopt him or her.
This adoption medical ministry is especially dear to the hearts of the band members because the drummer is adopted and the Nunley brothers have adopted twin siblings.
If you are in the NW Arkansas area, consider being a part of this adventure by gathering sponsors and shooting free throws. You guys are going to LOVE the new facility where we will be doing this fund raiser!!! (more details will be provided ASAP). For those not in this area, please consider participating by being a sponsor of any or all of the band members of VIVIT.
Most especially pray for this adventure that we will get funds for these worthy causes way beyond our expectations!!!
Details of time and location and how you can get involved will be provided soon.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Get to know me meme from Brandon
What was I doing 1 year ago?
I was being 12 and getting ready to go to a school after being homeschooled for 6 years.
Five Snacks I enjoy:
1. popcorn
2. chocolate
3. cashews
4. chocolate
5. bagels
Five Things On My To-Do List Today:
1. clean my room and bathroom
2. set up band equipment
3. band practice
4. do my laundry
5. work outside with my dad
Things I Would Do If I Were A Billionaire:
I have no idea!
Five Jobs I Have Had:
1. babysitting
2. cutting down limbs
3. painting
4. tiling and laying wood floor
5. cooking
1. losing my contacts
2. losing my glasses
3. losing stuff
4. losing my mind
5. losing my brace brackets
Five Places I've Lived:
1. Tulsa, OK
2. Pryor, OK
3. Edmond, OK
4. OKC, OK
5. Rogers, AR
5 People I Want To Get To Know Better
Way too many people to list!
Five Random Things (most people wouldn't know about me):
1. I like to take apart fireworks and make them bigger
2. I am a crazy freakish pyromaniac
3. I really like to catch stuff on fire
4. I like blowing up stuff
5. I like to go fishing
Saturday, July 5, 2008
My little survey thingy!
What was I doing 1 year ago?
I was actually enjoying time with my friends. Basically having a lazy summer =)
Five Snacks I enjoy: 1. Corn chips! 2. Cashews 3. fruit 4. popsicles! (although I don't know if that's a snack food) 5. popcorn
Five Things On My To-Do List Today: Well, I pretty much spent my day:
1. slept in 2. watched 2 movies 3. put away some clothes 4. ate lunch & dinner 5. and i PLAN to shower
Things I Would Do If I Were A Billionaire:I would give most of it to some of the organizations that the band has been talking about! The rest I'd save for college, a car, and a house for later on.
Five Jobs I Have Had: I haven't ever had a job, but here are some "jobs" that i've done:
1. guitarist for a youth group's praiseband 2. guitarist for church 3. guitarist and singer for the band 4. vbs snack worker 5. I've babysat!
Five of My Bad Habits:
1. I used to bite my nails all the time (I've gotten a LOT better) 2. singing in the car (or as my mother puts it, just singing all the time) 3. getting mad when I make a mistake 4. snapping at my parents and my sister 5. talking when I should be listening
Five Places I've Lived:
Well, I've lived in only 2 different towns (Berryville and Springdale), but I've moved 4-5 times..
5 People I Want To Get To Know Better
1. Caleb 2. Josh 3. Brandon 4. Mrs. Lisa 5. Ashley
Five Random Things (most people wouldn't know about me):
1. I seem to work better with guys. A lot of girls just like drama. Haha 2. People can read me like a book (usually) 3. My feet sunburn VERY easily. The rest of my body just either tans a little, or the sun has no effect on me! 4. I seem to be the only "teenager" who doesn't like scary movies AT ALL (I don't like to be scared) 5. I don't like change (funny how a lot of it has happened to me this past year)
Last Summer Performance at Skia in Bentonville
Hopefully we will get some pics up of the 4th of July performance on the lake in Oklahoma. The view was beautiful and the fireworks were spectacular. Brandon took a ride over the lake in a helicopter with a Life Flight pilot along with Caleb's father. The pilot let Brandon hover the helicopter before landing. Brandon's father use to pilot Cessna's in high school and college.
The last summer performance will be at Skia Coffee House in Bentonville in August. More details later.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Pictures of Dallas Rebelution Conference!
4th of July Performance
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Whatever You Do...
The first meeting with Mr. Greenhaw was essentially him introducing himself and his passion to teach the next generation of worship leaders. He then asked them the hard questions as he inspired them to think Biblically about why they play. It was excellent.
What stood out was when he said, "I will have failed if, within the time we spend together, all you have done is grow in your skill and not in your love for the Lord and the desire to give Him glory."
In other words, if you are just doing this for fun and to get better at singing or playing your instrument, then you are doing this for the wrong reasons.
"Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it ALL for the glory of God."--I Corinthians 10:31
Mr. Attebery has sent an e-mail. He misses you guys and is excited to hear of what the Lord is accomplishing in your lives. He also wanted to make sure that at the next lesson with Mr. Greenhaw, you all thump him on the head and tell him it is from Mr. Attebery. :-D
Now go read Why God's Commands Are Not Burdensome
Monday, June 23, 2008
Perseverance Under Pressure & The Next Performance
As usual, there were challenges, but thankfully the instructor for the band has ingrained in them the importance of persevering even when the challenges come. Setting up the sound system for playing outside is completely different then inside, so there were adjustments that could have potentially been rattling. There were also challenges with the mic for the djembe.
What stood out is that they pressed on, exemplified Christ and sent a message to the audience about Christ and the Rebelution in both words and actions.
Their next performance will be at a 4th of July picnic on the lake in Oklahoma. Please consider them in your prayers that they will give God all the glory, and not glory in themselves.
This has been an experience in their lives that the Lord has used to grow them both in the talents God has given them, and grow them in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. During their practices they each talk about something they are thankful for and why; they have been reading through Scripture together; sharing the history of the songs they are performing and what those songs personally mean to them; and praying for one another as they proclaim thankfulness to the Lord for His abundant mercies and grace.
From the parents of the VIVIT band member: "...we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.--Colossians 1:9-14
The band is looking at some of the old hymns from C.H. Spurgeons Metropolitan Tabernacle Hymnbook. They want to set some of them to their style of music. Pray for this venture... and to God alone be the glory.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Just Wanted To Say Thanks!
The performance is tomorrow, and we just wanted to say "Thank You" to y'all for praying for us and believing in us! Your prayers help A LOT! So thank you for praying for us!
God bless!
~Lauren
Friday, June 20, 2008
May We Not Glory in Ourselves, but Christ Alone
RE: Performance this Sunday: "Pops in the Park" in Springdale, AR for Republican mayoral candidate, Nancy Jenkins.
---VIVIT Performance: 5:50pm (yes, they changed it)
---They will have 10 minutes to set up all of their equipment (they originally said 15 minutes)
---We have to be there one hour before they perform
---They will have 25 minutes to perform (they originally said 30 minutes)
The other day during practice it took them 22 minutes. I think we will be good as long as they do not get distracted.
In previous performances, kids have asked for autographs from the band. This typically happens more to the vocalist. This is an opportunity for the band members to give glory to God. How? They are all actually really uncomfortable with writing their signature. My suggestion is to point to Christ in their words as they are talking to them and write along with their signature something like "To God be all the glory" or "In Christ alone" along with their favorite Scripture reference. This is also when they will be giving out "Do Hard Things" brochures.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Slow Fade
One of the songs that we're performing at our next concert (which is coming REAL soon) is called "Slow Fade." This song is about how some people (who are Christians) have made little compromises in life (little "white" lies, going the next step in a relationship, etc.), and all of a sudden, those people are in a place where they'd never go, doing things that they'd never do...
I have a friend who was like a sister to me. She was my best friend in elementary and middle school. We were so close to each other...Then I started homeschooling in the middle of the seventh grade. The first day of school without me there with her, she told me she had a boyfriend..I didn't think much about it, until she broke up with him and hooked up with another boy...and then another...then another...until finally two years later, she told me she was ENGAGED to her new boyfriend...who does things she would never have approved of several years ago. That woke me up. I tried to explain to her what that means, but she was stubborn about it and kept saying, "I love him, and I'll do anything in the world for him."
Woah. That's a big deal. What she just said, has said, "I'll do ANYTHING for him." What would he want her to do in the future? Basically, what she just did, was give her whole self up to him.
Now hold up. Aren't we supposed to do that with GOD? And NOT with a person (until marriage)?
Going on to say, she was (and still is) becoming more like the world. See, she fell for little compromises and it drug her lower and lower, to a place that I KNOW she wouldn't have gone two years ago...which makes me really sad, because she was my best friend, and I hate to see her going through this.
In Psalm 1:1-2, it says: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the seat of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."
Have you ever heard of the saying, "You are what you eat"? It's the same thing with "You are who you hang out with."
When I saw the lyrics to this song, I immediately thought of my friend.
Mark Hall, singer and songwriter for Casting Crowns, says, "Imagine the man in these verses totally breaking down, but just a little at a time. First, he's walking, then standing, and eventually sitting, just slowly shutting down. He doesn't crash suddenly-there's no sudden crash in the Christian life. The 'crash' is just the fruit of a slow fade."
"Be careful if you think you stand, you just might be sinking."
In 1 Corinthians 10:12-13, it says, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
What about you? Have you made little compromises and started to sink down? Or have you sunk down the farthest that you could possibly go?
I encourage you to read Psalm 103. It tells of our loving and compassionate God, who redeems us from the pits of life. He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
God bless!
~Lauren
Why the Cross? Because sinners have no other hope. Why the Cross? Because it is the unassailable proof that we can be forgiven.--The Great Rescue
Monday, June 16, 2008
Upcoming Performance
We will be doing the following songs at the picnic:
1. Amazing Grace, My Chains are Gone (Tomlin)
2. Holy is the Lord (Tomlin)
3. Meant to Live (Switchfoot) before this song, Lauren will quote I Timothy 4:12 and talk about The Rebelution
4. All Bow Down (Tomlin) before this song, Lauren will tell everyone what our band name means and quote "...at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."
5. Long Live the King (Aaron Shust) after this song we will give a testimonial as to why the next song is important to us
6. Slow Fade (Casting Crowns) Josh and Brandon's 5 and 7 year old sisters will sing the last part
(All of the links on the song titles will lead you to the lyrics for that song)
Below is a video of "Slow Fade." VIVIT does a milder rendition with an acoustic guitar, djembe and drums added closer to the end. This song means a lot to us. Lauren will share why at the picnic. We all have had someone that we have witnessed slowly fade away.