Desiring God Interview

Last month I had the privilege to lead a few songs at John Piper’s Gravity and Gladness seminar, and participate in a Q&A with Dr. Piper. It was somewhat of a surreal experience sitting next to John answering questions about worship. I first heard the audio of John preaching this series around 2000. As I listened to him again I realized how much his message of both knowing and treasuring the supremacy of God’s glory in Christ has affected my thinking. So grateful for the ways God has used John to magnify the glory of Jesus Christ.

After the seminar was over, Jonathan Parnell, content strategist for Desiring God, asked me a few questions related to congregational worship and more. Here’s the hour long video they posted of the interview, along with time markers for the questions.
 

Time markers:

01:04 — How did you come to Christ and become a worship leader?
04:21 — Tell us about how God brought you through a battle with hopelessness.
07:59 — How should we think about worship as an event and as all of life?
11:35 — What does it mean for worship leaders to be clear and specific?
14:30 — What should we do with songs that don’t explicitly mention Jesus?
17:07 — How do we anticipate the new creation in our worship events?
19:45 — How might worship be different in the new creation?
22:06 — How should we consider the horizontal elements of worship?
24:55 — Why do humans sing?
30:32 — Should we give preference to our voices over the music?
32:27 — What does it mean to sing the gospel to ourselves?
37:57 — What encourages you most about worship in the church today?
38:46 — What adjustments would you make about worship in the church today?
41:58 — How does a church train new members for their worship team?
45:57 — How can we help our children to enjoy the worship event?
48:31 — How should we think about the cultural barriers at work in music?
52:24 — How should worship leaders handle criticism?
57:10 — What’s your favorite song?

8 Responses to Desiring God Interview

  1. Matt Faulkner December 9, 2011 at 9:47 PM #

    Bob – Thank you very much for posting this! It was a real encouragement to me today. I really appreciate your biblical approach to worship and am so thankful for how God is using you to speak into my life and the lives of others.

    Have a blessed Christmas!

    Matt

    • Bob Kauflin December 9, 2011 at 10:04 PM #

      Thanks for your encouraging words, Matt. Grateful to have the opportunity to be at Desiring God, a ministry I respect so deeply.

  2. Chris Smith January 23, 2012 at 3:53 PM #

    Bob, thanks for posting this interview. I serve at a church with 2 other staff worship leaders and we’re going to use what you share in this video as a springboard for discussion. Your wisdom and experience is impacting a new generation of leaders.

  3. pastor Thomas Amone March 2, 2012 at 10:56 AM #

    Bob,thanks alot for your faithfulness of sharing Godly knowledge and very important information with the entire body of Christ about Worship.i am in Northern Uganda pastoring one of the Church under Victory Outreach Ministries.i personally love Worship And Praising God so much and i do Co-ordinate all Choir members within our Town of different Churches.so please Bob your ministries is highly needed here inorder to build the body of Christ to effectively serve well in our generation and to come.your positive response to this call will highly be of grate help.you are welcome to work with us.Thank

    • Bob Kauflin March 2, 2012 at 2:09 PM #

      Thomas, thanks for your kind words and invitation. I’d love to go many more places than I’m actually able to right now. I pray for the churches of Uganda regularly. Thank you for serving God’s people faithfully and joyfully for the Savior’s glory!

  4. Darren Jourdain April 10, 2013 at 6:15 PM #

    I was looking forward to seeing this video, but it would seem the video has been disabled somehow.
    Are you able to reload it for me?

    ps
    Your upcoming worship conferences look very appealing, but it’s a major mission for me to come from my small church in New Zealand to attend. Will you be releasing video copies after the conference that we could download?

    • Bob Kauflin April 10, 2013 at 7:20 PM #

      Darren, I’ll check on the video. Yes, we will be posting videos.

  5. Bob Kauflin April 11, 2013 at 3:57 PM #

    Darren, the video is working again. Thanks for the heads up.

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