Each summer my church holds an event for 6-10 year olds called Summer Celebration, led by one of our pastors, Mike Bradshaw. It’s a week long event filled with fun, games, teaching, songs, and encouragement. The leadership team (which includes a significant number of high schoolers) invests hours of planning and preparation with the goal of directing the hearts and minds of kids to God’s character and the gift of salvation he offers us through his Son. It’s been a great opportunity to minister to kids from our church as well as guests. And make no mistake about it – it’s a high energy, exhausting week. But the fruit has been sweet. Last …
Archive | Books, CDs, Websites
Where Do Sovereign Grace Songs Come From?
I have a sweet job. One of my responsibilities is to oversee the production of Sovereign Grace albums. Some of you have asked where the songs for those albums come from, and what the process looks like. I’m right in the middle of a three day retreat with 18 songwriters from various Sovereign Grace churches, so I thought now would be a good time to answer that question. Last fall I worked with C.J. Mahaney and Jeff Purswell to determine what albums we wanted to produce in the coming year. That would set the course for a significant part of my job description. We determined that I’d focus on four main projects (I’ll share those details …
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How Can Worship Matters Serve You More Effectively?
Like many of you, I’m in the midst of reflecting on 2009 and planning for 2010. One of my goals is to make Worship Matters more effective in serving the folks who read it. That’s you. If you’re involved in leading corporate worship in your church or ministry, I’m especially interested in knowing anything I can do that would make this blog better. Some changes I want to make include: more consistent posts (duh) more music and book reviews more interviews from pastors, theologians, and musicians more analysis of current trends or events blog redesign free resources tab Could you take a moment to comment below and tell me what …
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Sons & Daughters Nominated for Best Worship Project of 2009
Every year Worship Leader magazine announces its “Reader’s Choice” awards. They give their readers a limited list, and ask them to choose their favorite artists, songs, and albums from the previous year. This year I was happy to learn that Sons & Daughters was nominated for two categories: Best Worship Project and Best Compilation Project. I have mixed feelings about Christians giving out awards to each other, especially in the music world. On the one hand, I know awards are an attempt to recognize and promote what most people think is worthwhile, beneficial, or glorifying to the Lord. That’s great. We’re to give honor to whom honor is …
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“To Be Like Jesus” Contest
No, this isn’t a contest to see who can be the most like Jesus… Sovereign Grace Music is inviting families, individuals, children’s ministries, and whoever else is up for making a creative video to participate in a contest using our latest kids’ album, To Be Like Jesus. The prize is a $250 gift certificate to Amazon.com. Here’s what you have to do: 1. Order a copy of To Be Like Jesus from our online store as an album or a digital download. (You can skip this step if you already own one). 2. Make a video using one of the songs from the album. You can use an accompaniment track and provide your own vocals, or use one of the original songs. …
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A Few Christmas Songs Worth Checking Out
I know it’s late in the season, but I wanted to post some of the more solid Christmas songs, mostly for congregational worship, that I’ve come across this year. From my experience, Christmas carols are a mixed bag. Some beat around the “gospel bush” and hint at a universal brotherhood, while others clearly proclaim the good news that a Savior has been born to rescue rebellious sinners. I lean towards the second. Every year I’m on the lookout for new songs that express the wonder of the Incarnation in a fresh way. Here are a few that I’ve found this year. On Christmas Day – A song by Matt Osgood from www.RESOUNDworship.org that contains …
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Paul Baloche Talks About His New Album, Glorious
Yesterday I reviewed Paul Baloche’s new album, Glorious. I emailed Paul a few questions which he was kind enough to answer. As long as I’ve known Paul he has always been gracious and humble. His songs are sung across the world, yet he consistently encourages those around him, laughs at himself, and directs people’s hearts to the glory of Jesus Christ. He’s also been serving in his local church for the past 20 years. So grateful for his example of humility. Here’s the interview: 1. How do you hope people who listen to this album will be affected? I hope that they will be inspired to wonder- to inquire- to lean in to the glory and mystery …
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Album Review – Glorious by Paul Baloche
My first lengthy conversation with Paul Baloche took place about 5 or 6 years ago. Early on the conversation turned to theology. Paul assured me that his theology was “Jesus,” and he didn’t think it needed to be more complicated than that. I’m happy to report Paul’s views have changed. Paul’s new album, Glorious, is filled with intentional, gospel-centered theology that’s expressed in tunes that are both singable and memorable. Yes, you can find albums that are denser theologically and more cutting edge musically. But when it comes to writing accessible songs that communicate biblical truths clearly and sincerely, few do it as well as Paul …
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Matt Redman Interview
I asked Matt Redman if he could fill us in on some of the background to his latest album, We Shall Not Be Shaken, which I reviewed yesterday. His responses give some insight into the songwriting process, as well as Matt’s humility. Themes of God’s sovereignty pervade the songs on this album. Why did you choose to make that focus for this album? I had a sense that many people right now need re-assurance that God is in control in their lives. So many recent events, particularly economic ones, have reminded us that much of this life and this world is fragile, temporary and changing. We’ve heard so many statistics about mortgage payments defaults …
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Matt Redman’s We Shall Not Be Shaken – Review
I first met Matt Redman in 1997 when I was over in England for a worship conference. In a few minutes of conversation a few things stood out to me. He was a young man passionate about impacting his generation with worship songs that communicated biblical truth about God and not simply emotional responses. He was theologically aware and gospel-focused. He was articulate. And he was humble. Over the past years my first impressions have not only been confirmed; they’ve been deepened. After listening to his latest album, We Shall Not Be Shaken, I found myself thanking God once again for Matt’s faithfulness to serve the church with his songwriting …
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Psalms CD on Sale
Recently, we received some good news. Worship Leader magazine picked our Psalms album as one of the “Best of the Best” products for 2009. We were pretty surprised, especially since we released the album in August 2008. But hey, we’re not going to complain. To celebrate, we’ve dropped the price for the Psalms CD to $8 (33% off our usual price) through the end of November. You can also download the digital album for $6 (25% off). As always, U.S. orders over $15 get free shipping. Psalms contains twelve songs echoing the passion, prayers, and praises of the psalmists. If you haven’t heard it yet, you can preview it with a free download of …
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Story Behind “The Father’s Love” from Sons & Daughters
This past Sunday at my home church, we taught one of the songs from Sons & Daughters, The Father’s Love. It’s an uptempo song that elaborates on the theme of 1 John 3:1: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” It was written by Joel Sczebel, who’s dad, Pat, has been writing songs for Sovereign Grace for years. Pat has done a brilliant job passing on his love for the Savior, the church, and music to his kids. I asked Joel about how this song came together and here’s what he wrote: “The song was essentially born out of a quiet time where I was meditating on the doctrine …
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Sons & Daughters Now on iTunes
You can now download our latest CD, Sons & Daughters, on iTunes. Sons & Daughters contains 12 songs that celebrate God adopting us through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:5). We are now part of God’s family—in Christ we will forever be the objects of God’s particular and passionate mercy and love. That biblical reality, rather than leaving us focused on ourselves, drives us once again to proclaim the greatness of the God whose grace turns hopeless rebels into precious children. You can check out lyrics and download free charts and lead sheets over at the Sovereign Grace webstore. …
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Christ-Centered Worship by Bryan Chappell – Book Review
Just finished Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, by Bryan Chappell. Bottom line — if you’re responsible for leading, overseeing, or planning corporate worship in your church, you should read this book. Chappell divides the book into two sections, Gospel Worship and Gospel Worship Resources. A casual look at the Table of Contents could lead you to think the book is all about formal liturgies, and irrelevant for churches that come from a more “free” tradition. Not the case. In the first section he defines liturgy as “the public way a church honors God in its times of gathered praise, prayer, instruction, and commitment” …
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Sample the New Sovereign Grace Album – Sons & Daughters
I’m happy to let you know that you can listen to samples from our new album, Sons & Daughters, over at the Sovereign Grace Music website. We’ll be releasing it next Wednesday, Aug. 5, at the WorshipGod09 conference. The songs are primarily meant for congregational worship, and focus on themes related to 1 John 3:1: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The project came out of a perceived lack of songs that help us meditate on the unfathomable love God has shown us in adopting us through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:5). We are now part of God’s family – in Christ we will …
