Worship
Peder Eide
Taste Worship
CBN.com
– If anyone can profess to have his finger on the pulse of today’s youth, Peder Eide (pronounced “I’d”) has certainly earned the right to make that claim. For nearly 1/3 of his life, he has led praise and worship at youth conferences, festivals, camps, churches and any other venues teenagers and pre-teens have gathered. So when Peder says he believes he knows what the youth of today need, he speaks with unchallenged authority on the subject.
“I’ve been showing kids how to worship vertically, but I now realize there is a missing horizontal connection they are not getting,” says Peder. “I’ve watched as churches, in order to meet everyone’s needs, offer worship in different styles for different age groups, and I think that’s important. But sometimes there can be an unintentional separation between the generations with teenagers in one place and adults in another. Imagine mothers, brothers, fathers, daughters and extended family members experiencing worship together. I want to help families enhance their worship at home, work, school, vacations, and even Sunday mornings by encouraging them to engage with each other while connecting with Jesus.”
In addition to releasing his 10th CD, TASTE AND SEE, Peder is embarking on a special mission this year – to bring moms and dads and brothers and sisters into the same auditorium to pray for and with each other. Designating it as a “Taste Worship” event, Peder intends to arm families with practical tools that he hopes will transform their lives, guiding them into a lifestyle of worship.
Losing his own mother in a car accident at the tender age of 14 and then his father a few years later in a house fire, Peder has learned the preciousness of having a family to love. Now a father of four children all under the age of 9, including a recently-adopted little girl from South Korea, Peder and his wife Sherri, have learned ways to create a worship atmosphere in their home that teaches their kids the value of knowing Jesus on a daily basis.
“One of the things I teach in ‘Taste Worship’ events is that traditions are important,” says Peder. “At my house, whoever is having a birthday gets breakfast in bed. Every Sunday night is movie night at our house. These are little things, but they create cohesiveness in our family. Just try to skip a movie night or someone not get their birthday breakfast! Our kids value these things already and look forward to them with excitement.”
Peder uses an acronym for T.A.S.T.E. to give practical tools to enhance family worship. Along with Traditions, Peder emphasizes Affirmations, Stretching (in expression/worship), Touch and Everywhere. Some topics, Peder admits, get a little uncomfortable, such as “touch.”
“There are so many terrible things people do to each other, especially to kids, that Touch has become a taboo subject,” says Peder. “But the truth is no family can function without it. Our little girl, Makenzie, was in foster care in Korea – and I’m so glad she was held as a baby before we got her. Yet so many babies like that never get held, and it is hard for them to bond normally as they grow up. It’s a very simple concept –moms, dads, sons and daughters need to hug. It’s a basic need we all have.”
Overall, Peder’s message is one of encouragement to parents. “If it’s true that a group will never rise above its leaders then parents, being the leaders of the household, need to exude enthusiasm for the things of God. If I lift my hands in church, my little boy does the same because he wants to be like his daddy. Kids watch and learn from everything we do – or don’t do – and they mirror it. I challenge parents to become enthusiastic about their faith in their everyday lives.”
The songs on Peder’s new CD, TASTE AND SEE, parallel each of the “Taste Worship” themes. There are worshipful moments (“Breakthrough,” “Abba I Belong To You”), contagious lyrics (“Taste and See”), fun surprises (“As Is”) and poignant, heartfelt songs like “Roll The Stone Away,” a tune that Peder specifically co-wrote for the organization he has worked with for many years --Compassion International.
“All I Need To Know,” the CD’s first AC radio single, is an upbeat, hilarious song that Peder says reminds him: “I’m not very bright,” he laughs. “You know none of us have life all figured out and we certainly don’t have God figured out. When my mom died in a car wreck, I just couldn’t fathom what God was thinking. People get frustrated when they don’t understand their circumstances, and that can defeat their faith. But mystery can be a beautiful thing, and this song just says I know God loves me and that’s pretty much all I need to know.”
The “Everywhere” of Peder’s T.A.S.T.E. acronym can be explained in the song “Holy Ground.”
“When God told Moses to take off his shoes, it wasn’t because he was standing on some special place on an exceptional mountain. It was because God’s presence was there. And Isaiah 6 tells us that the whole earth is full of the presence of God. Everywhere we go; everywhere we are on a daily basis is Holy ground. And we need to learn to find God’s presence in everyday encounters.”
Peder hopes that the “Taste Worship” events become more than just concerts or seminars. He believes that true ministry moments are “caught” rather than “taught.” And if anyone can pull off the concept of bringing parents and kids together for a worshipful experience, Peder has proven he can. As one fan recently described, “Peder sings and talks with us, not at us.”
“Growing up, my relationship with my brother was basically the two of us pounding each other as boys will do,” says Peder. “But I never remember hugging my brother. Over the past few years, as he and I have – on purpose – worshipped and prayed with each other, we are now closer than ever. Now, my brother and I hug every time we see each other. The Family was God’s idea, and when we put Him at the center of it, the coolest things always happen.”
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