Each January, I spend an afternoon getting really geeky about music. I sort through my plans and reports in Planning Center and compile a list of the year's most played songs at CenterPoint Lewis Center. I'm fascinated by the trends, by seeing which songs rise and fall. It reflects not only my own changing tastes but also those of the band and congregation as a whole. It also gives me an idea of where our expressions line up with the majority of the American contemporary church and where they don't. So without further ado...

In 2015 we played a total of 54 songs at the Lewis Center campus. That number doesn't include specials - only songs that we actually sang together as a congregation. That's a smaller overall catalog than we've had the past few years (we sang between 59-77 songs each year from 2012-2015), but the number of songs that were used 5 or more times was still consistent (19 with 5 or more plays vs. 18-22 in previous years). In addition, 13 of those 54 songs were Christmas carols that were only sung between November-December. To me, this means that our library "tightened up" a bit this year. Playing fewer songs, and singing those songs more often, does a lot to increase everyone's familiarity with our musical expressions of worship.

As I mentioned above, there were 19 songs that we played 5 or more times in 2016. I've indicated the 11 songs that appeared on this list last year, as well as the 3 that were new to CenterPoint in 2016. I've also listed the version of each song that we typically use.

9 Plays in 2016:

• Come Ye Sinners (Vertical Church Band) New in 2016
• This Is Amazing Grace (Phil Wickham) New in 2016

8 Plays in 2016:

• Always (Kristian Stanfill) 7 plays in 2015
• God Is Able (Hillsong) 6 plays in 2015
• Good Good Father (Housefires) 5 plays in 2015
• The Same Love (Paul Baloche) 6 plays in 2015
• You Love Never Fails (Jesus Culture) 8 plays in 2015

6 Plays in 2016:

• Everyday (Hillsong United)
• Furious (Jeremy Riddle) 7 plays in 2015
• Glorified (New Life Worship) 6 plays in 2015
• In Christ Alone (Passion) 7 plays in 2015
• Lord I Need You (Matt Maher) 5 plays in 2015
• Our God (Chris Tomlin)
• The Lord Is My Salvation (Keith & Kristyn Getty) New in 2016
• Your Grace Is Enough (Chris Tomlin) 6 plays in 2015

5 Plays in 2016:

• Blessed Be Your Name (Tree63)
• Center (Charlie Hall)
• The Solid Rock (Charlie Hall)
• The Stand (Hillsong United) 5 plays in 2015

There were a whopping 11 songs that appeared on the list last year that didn't make the cut this time around (though most just barely):

• Everlasting God (Lincoln Brewster) 3 plays in 2016
• Forever Reign (Hillsong) 4 plays in 2016
• Give Me Jesus (Jeremy Camp) 3 plays in 2016
• More Than Ever (Robbie Reider) 4 plays in 2016
• Nothing Ever (Could Separate Us) (Citizen Way) 3 plays in 2016
• Sing Out (Jesus Culture) 2 plays in 2016
• Song Of Hope (Heaven Come Down) (Robbie Seay Band) 4 plays in 2016
• Waiting On You Again (Casey Corum) 2 plays in 2016
• You Are Good (Bethel) 4 plays in 2016
• You'll Come (Hillsong) 4 plays in 2016
• Your Name (Paul Baloche) 4 plays in 2016

The fact that so many of these were still used 3 or 4 times further reinforces the idea that we're singing fewer songs, more often.

Quoting again from previous years (dates and stats have been updated):

Each year we have new songs that shoot into this list, and several of the other top tunes in 2016 were new in 2015. This confirms what I always tell people when they ask about what we sing - our library changes slowly, but constantly. New songs are continuously working their way in, and necessarily pushing older tunes farther down the list. Sometimes a song will sit unplayed for a long time (and some are intentionally rested for seasons) and then experience a resurgence (5 of this year's top songs were already in our catalog, but didn't make the list last year). All of this reflects the ever-evolving landscape of what is relevant to our church.

I suspect that the catalog will shrink even a bit more in 2017, but I also hope to work several more new songs in (and perhaps bring back some older ones, as well). The size of the catalog felt really good this year, and the level of familiarity that the band had with everything was a huge plus. I'm looking forward to another great year of worship together in 2017!

Once again, I've put all of this year's top songs into a Spotify playlist. Enjoy!

1. Pray First
2. Read the Bible intentionally
3. Walk or exercise at least 30 minutes
4. Create something (a short poem, a photograph, a song lyric, a blog post)
5. Eat mindfully

Gear: In true Plugged In Church fashion, we'll start with a few gear picks.

• Ethos Clean and Clean-Fusion Preamps. My favorite gear discovery of 2016 by far - so good I bought it twice! I picked up a Clean preamp early in the year and then upgraded to the Clean-Fusion a couple of months ago. This pedal has replaced my guitar amp and also now serves as my entire overdrive section. It's that good.
• Behringer XR16. Digital mixing for the masses has finally arrived. Over the course of the year, I used this box as a traditional mixer for my own PA, as a "drive rack" of sorts to route effects and outputs for larger systems, and as a podcast recording rig (thanks to the build in stereo USB recorder). It excelled in all of these applications, and the touch control apps are surprisingly well designed and efficient, solving my major complaint with previous "headless" mixers.
• G7th Performance 2 Capo. A late entry as I just got it on Christmas, but my search for a capo that won't knock my electrics out of tune is finally over. Phenomenal design and really easy to use. Unfortunately, it doesn't play particuarly nicely with my Ibanez acoustic, but the trusty Kyser still works fine there.

Non-Musical Gear: The best "everyday" stuff.

• Kindle Paperwhite. Probably the actual best thing that I got in 2016. One of my goals for this year was to read more, and this device did a lot to facilitate that. It has also come in very handy for seminary books, and I've even been preaching and teaching from it when the need arises. I really didn't realize how useful it was going to be. Also, while I'm sure any of the Kindles are fine, I've found the backlight very useful.
• Fisher Space Pen. Yeah, I know I'm late to the game, but this thing rocks. It has been my constant companion since I picked it up at the beginning of the year, and it writes flawlessly pretty much anytime, anywhere. I'm just lucky I haven't left it somewhere yet!
• Thrunite Ti3 Flashlight. I've been carrying a small, AAA powered flashlight in my pocket for years, and have always favored the Fenix lights. Until now. This little guy has the perfect combination of output modes for my use, and the beam size and color are outstanding. The best AAA light I've ever owned.

Books: These aren't all 2016 books, but they're the best that I read this year.

• A Peculiar Glory (John Piper). Piper was the one who God used to make the doctrines of grace come alive for me in the first place, and this is an outstanding book on the value and authority of scripture.
• Ready Player One (Earnest Cline). Okay, so I know that I'm the last nerd on earth to read this book, but I finally got around to it this year and really enjoyed it. The most drawn in I've been by a fictional work in quite a while.
• Hillbilly Elegy (J.D. Vance). Yep, I read it just like everybody else. And you know what? It's just as good as everybody says it is. A fascinating memoir and a look into an American demographic that has too often gone ignored by the larger culture.

Music: Here are three artists that I didn't know before 2016 that you should be listening to in 2017.

• Donovan Woods. Oh my goodness, how did I make it this long without knowing this guy's music? An amazing songwriter and a folk style that's right up my alley. It's been playing on my Spotify all. year. long.
• The Roosevelts. Amanda and I discovered these guys when they opened for Green River Ordinance, and we haven't stopped listening since. Great southern rock with excellent guitar tones.
• Andrew James. A great singer-songwriter out of Texas. "Memphis" is the best song I heard this year. I've listened to it literally hundreds of times.

Well, there you have it - this year's best things for 2016! See you all next year!

Now, I am not naive. I realize that the candidate who I voted for has about as much chance of becoming President of the United States as I have of peeking under my pillow tonight and finding a million dollars. And I can already hear my well-intentioned friends on both sides of the political divide winding up to explain how any vote for a candidate other than theirs is automatically a vote for the other major party. And I wouldn't want them to win, would I?

No. I don't want them to win. I don't want either of them to win. Do I find one of the two major candidates worse than the other? Yes, absolutely. I think one of them is much, much worse. But that does not automatically make the other one acceptable. That does not mean that I could vote for the perceived "lesser of two evils" without violating my conscience as a Christian. And so I voted for the candidate that I would most like to see in the White House of all the available options. I voted for the candidate that best reflects my opinions and views.

This was not a "protest vote" or a "throwaway vote," as so many have opined. I feel immensely blessed to have been born in the USA and to get to live in this privileged nation where we select our leaders democratically. I take the responsibility to vote very seriously and want to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded to me. But my first allegiance is not to the USA or any particular party or leader. As a Christian, my first allegiance must always be to my God and to his truth as expressed in the Bible. And here's the thing about that: I haven't found anything in Scripture that promises me a government friendly to my beliefs. Neither have I found any promise of influence or a voice in that government. I haven't even found a promise of freedom from that government!

Instead, I see Jesus' words to his disciples, telling them to expect persecution. I see Paul's statements about submitting to authority and his instruction to live peaceful, quiet lives of faith. I hear repeated calls to live uncompromisingly faithful and moral lives, regardless of the external circumstances, pressures or consequences. And I see a promise of a greater freedom, a greater peace, and a coming perfect Kingdom that will have no end. That is where my hope is found. That Ruler and Kingdom are where I put my trust.

I'm not here to tell you who to vote for. I'm not even telling you who I voted for. Different Christians will reach different conclusions, and that's okay. I'm simply here to say this: The United States may be a great nation, but it is a flimsy idol next to the Kingdom of God. My standing in one means nothing, while my standing in the other means everything. And I find no shame in exercising my right to vote, which is a privilege I was never promised, to support a candidate with whom I agree on the truly important things rather than making a forced decision between two different forms of corruption. I believe that to do any less would be a grave sin, indeed. I cannot vote for what I cannot support. And so, while a vote for a third party or write-in candidate may produce little effect, it is certainly not a waste. It is a way for principled people of faith to participate in the democracy we love without compromising the beliefs that supersede all earthly things.