Archive | December, 2007

Worship Conference Site Now Up

The website for the next Sovereign Grace worship conference is now up and running. It’s called WorshipGod08: Rediscovering the Psalms. Although registration doesn’t start until January 14, you can check out the speakers, seminars, and schedule. Also, on the WorshipGod08 blog I explain why we’re even doing this conference. I begin: Twenty years ago worship conferences were rarely heard of. That’s no longer the case. We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of conferences put on by churches, ministries, and music companies, devoted exclusively to the topic of worship. As I’ve attended and participated in different events over the years, …

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God is Born a Man Today – Merry Christmas

Last year we released an album of songs celebrating the Incarnation. We called it Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man. It was the CD my family started the day with this morning. Here are the words to the opening song, Christ the Lord, written by my good friend, Mark Altrogge. How my happy heart rejoices I can hear the angel voices “Christ is born” they all are singing From the sky this good news bringing Let the earth rejoice O come and lift your voices Christ the Lord is born today He came from heaven’s throne God is born a man today To bring His children home To bring His children home Death and darkness surely …

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What I’ve Been Working On (not this blog, obviously)

When I first started Worship Matters two years ago, I was posting five days a week. I’ve loosened up some on the schedule since then… I’ve been working on a chapter for a book on worldliness edited by my good friend, C.J. Mahaney. Crossway will be publishing it some time next year. It originated from a series of messages we gave at our a few years back on 1 John 2:15-17. My chapter develops the thought that listening to music without discernment or godly intent reveals a heart willing to flirt with the world. Other chapters address possessions, media, modesty. The final chapter suggests ways God has called us to love the world around us. Most …

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Looking for Translators

Sovereign Grace Ministries is one of a growing number of ministries (including Desiring God and 9Marks) working with and supporting Open Source Mission. The goal of OSM is to build a community of volunteer translators who will collaborate to make gospel-centered resources available in as many languages as possible. Once the books or articles are translated, the finished translations will be available online for free at gospeltranslations.org. It will function like Wikipedia, but instead of producing encyclopedia entries, the content will be translations of Christian books and articles. Because the majority of Christian materials are published …

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Whose Glory Do We Make Music For?

This past week we recorded some of the lead vocals for our upcoming project, Come Weary Saints, due out in April. It’s a project of congregational worship songs designed to encourage faith and hope in the hearts of those who are going through trials. Each of the vocalists who came to sing was clearly there not to promote themselves, but to serve those whoever would be listening. It was evident from their preparation, the way they joyfully received comments, and their gratefulness for the opportunity to participate in the project. Grace abounded. It reminded me of a message I gave at the Sovereign Grace WorshipGod conference in 2002. I was …

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Addressing One Another in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs

This past Sunday I had the privilege of speaking at Solid Rock Church, the Sovereign Grace church in Riverdale, Maryland, not far from where I live. I spoke on Eph. 5:15-21 and called the message, “Spirit-filled Singing.” I shared six characteristics of singing that are a result of being filled with the Spirit. My first point was “Spirit-filled singing is to each other,” and based on Eph. 5:19 where Paul says we’re “addressing one another.” You’d think in a passage about singing praise to God that Paul would begin with God. He doesn’t. The first focus of our singing Paul mentions is not God, but one another. Col. 3:16 fills this idea out …

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