Here’s another video clip from WorshipGod09, where Jeff Purswell is interviewing CJ Mahaney and me about some of the things we’ve learned over three decades of leading. In this section we talk about the importance of planning as well as listening for the Spirit’s leading during the meeting. In my experience, people tend to value one or the other. Either we trust completely in our plan and wouldn’t think of veering from it, or we minimize preparation and think God is only active when something spontaneous happens. When it comes to leading corporate worship, both planning AND spontaneity are important values. If you’re interested in …
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Mark Altrogge at WorshipGod09, Take 2
Yesterday I posted a video of Mark Altrogge at WorshipGod09 pulling a ticket out of a jar to announce the winner of a prize drawing. Sounds simple, I know. Here’s another video, demonstrating how in the hands of a master, a simple task can become a 12 minute comedy routine. If you haven’t had enough of Altrogge humor, you can visit the Sovereign Grace Vimeo site. …
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Mark Altrogge (alias Ticket Boy) at WorshipGod09
Mark Altrogge is a multi-talented man. His songs have been sung across the world (I Stand in Awe, Forever Grateful) and he continues to be one of the most prolific, humble songwriters I know. He’s also a caring husband and dad, and a superb pastor at his church in Indiana, Pa. Not to mention, he’s a gifted artist and a great writer. On top of all these talents, Mark is one of the funniest guys I know. He’s simply brilliant at making fun of his friends (and lest you misunderstand, he wrote a post on this topic over at the blog he writes with his son, Stephen). For years, he’s been using his humor to encourage WorshipGod attendees. At WorshipGod09, …
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Lessons Learned From Three Decades of Leading
On Friday night at WorshipGod09, Jeff Purswell interviewed CJ Mahaney and me about some things we had learned over thirty years of leading, much of that together. From the early 90’s I was involved in leading the music at various Sovereign Grace conferences, and then in 1997 I became the worship pastor at Covenant Life Church, where CJ was senior pastor. CJ has been the most significant influence in my life when it comes to the focus and practicals of leading congregational worship. During the interview, Jeff asked us about different topics including the role of the senior pastor in planning/leading corporate worship, encouraging your …
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Twenty-four Free MP3s from WorshipGod09 Now Available
Twenty four seminars from WorshipGod09: From Generation to Generation are now available at the Sovereign Grace Ministries website. And they’re all free. I’ve listed some of the seminars you can choose from below. Click on the title to download the MP3. You can also visit the Sovereign Grace Ministries website to download the pdfs or check out more seminars. Clean Hands and a Pure Heart – Pat Sczebel Thoughts on how we can weaken the power of indwelling sins like envy, lust, anger, and pride by pursuing greater satisfaction in Christ. Developing a Music Academy for God’s Glory – Ken and Rachael Boer Speaking from their experience …
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The Legacy of Asaph – Learning to Sing in the Same Room
Yesterday I referred to the message I gave on The Future of Worship at WorshipGod09:From Generation to Generation, I spoke from Ps. 78:1-8 and shared the story of Asaph. My first point was that God commands us to tell the coming generations what he has done. Psalm 78 is a maskil of Asaph, and one of 12 Psalms ascribed to Asaph. Whether Asaph actually wrote them or not, we can’t be sure. But one thing we can be sure of is that his influence lasted for centuries. Asaph ministered at the tabernacle as a Levite. When David recaptured the ark of the covenant and returned it to Jerusalem, Asaph was appointed by the other Levites “to raise sounds …
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The Future of Worship: Passing the Baton
At WorshipGod09:From Generation to Generation, I gave the last message on The Future of Worship, based on Ps. 78:1-8. The previous messages had dealt mostly with the biblical values of worship we want to pass on to future generations – the nature of God, the importance of the heart, the role of leadership, the significance of the local church, and more. The question I asked in my message was: What do we need to keep in mind as we seek to transfer these and other biblical values of worship to the next generation? In preparing for the message I came across some comments from Nigel Hetherington, the Scottish National Sprints and Hurdles coach. …
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The Passionate Preaching of John Piper
At the recent WorshipGod09 conference, I taught a seminar called, “Let the People be Glad: Corporate Worship and Expressiveness.” I attempted to present some biblical principles for what we’re supposed to do with our bodies when we gather to praise God together. I know for some of you that’s a no-brainer, but for others it’s still a front-burner issue. John Piper is a great example of what happens when the heart’s passion for God is naturally expressed externally. He practices what he’s written in his books and proclaims in his preaching—worship (whether it’s singing or preaching) consists of strong affections rooted in biblical truth. Here’s …
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Remembering WorshipGod09
My good friend, Andy Alonso, took pictures at WorshipGod09, and put together this slide show. Brings back a lot of great memories. You can watch a larger size version over at Andy’s site. …
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Song Lists from WorshipGod09
After last year’s WorshipGod conference we received some feedback that we had introduced too many new songs. I agreed. So at WorshipGod09 we tried to include more songs that people would be familiar with, while also including songs from our recent projects. Here’s what we ended up with. Song list from Wednesday PM: 1. Come Thou Fount – By Robert Robinson, John Wyeth and Bob Kauflin. Guitar chart. 2. Greater Than We Can Imagine – Sovereign Grace Music. From Psalms. 3. The Father’s Love – Sovereign Grace Music. From Sons and Daughters. 4. God Over All – Sovereign Grace Music. From Looked Upon and Next 2009 Live. 5. Here is Love – By William …
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WorshipGod09 Has Come and Gone
God was good to us at WorshipGod09: From Generation to Generation. I know in a few days all the mistakes, problems, “things I wish we had done better,” will be more evident to me, but right now I’m very aware of many specific ways that God answered our prayers. One of my favorite parts was getting to spend some time with folks I haven’t met or have only known through the Internet. Had a great time with some of the Acts29 worship pastors from Louisville, Seattle, St. Louis, and Dallas. Thanks to Tim Smith for setting that up. Also got to hang out with the folks from Enfield, the band that leads the music at Grace Community Church’s Resolved …
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Fifty More Spaces Open for WorshipGod09
God has been very kind. We’ve actually reached the 1,600 attendees we had hoped for for WorshipGod09. Made us so happy that we decided to open up an extra 50 spots for people to register on site (on-line registration is already closed). The choice of seminars will be limited (see below). To reserve a spot, on a first-come-first-served basis, you can contact us via our website. The cost is $185 or $135 for students. Payment (cash/check) will be expected when you arrive. Thursday, Seminar 1 “Do You Thirst for God” Donald Whitney “Thoughts on Songwriting, Part 1” Keith & Kristyn Getty Thursday, Seminar 2 “Improving Your …
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One Week Until WorshipGod09 Registration Closes
We’re three weeks away from WorshipGod09: From Generation to Generation (Aug. 5-8) and the last day for registering is next Wednesday, July 22. Where has the summer gone? So many things I’m looking forward to about the conference. With the help of my good friend, Jeff Purswell, I finally nailed down what the topics of the main sessions are going to be. They’re all related to significant issues to think about as we pass corporate worship from generation to generation. Wed. PM – The God of Worship (John Piper) Thurs. AM – The Heart of Worship (John Piper) Thurs. PM – The Leaders of Worship (Jeff Purswell) Fri. AM – The Church of Worship …
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WorshipGod09 Worship Leader Pre-Conference Intensive Expanded
One feature we’ve added at WorshipGod09 this year are pre-conference intensives for vocalists, songwriters, and worship leaders/planners. They’ll take place on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 1:00-4:30. We wanted to offer something more hands-on and focused for those who were willing to pay a little more ($50) and come a little earlier. Due to numerous requests, we’ve added thirty slots to the worship leader intensive, which I’ll be leading. I’ll be covering topics like 4 ways to view ourselves as leaders, heart issues, song progression, working with a team, and more. If you’ve already signed up for the conference and saw that the intensive was full, …
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Three Weeks Until WorshipGod09 Registration Closes
Life comes at you fast sometimes… I’ve been finishing up a few projects, including our latest kids’ CD, To Be Like Jesus, and the Next Live CD, from our Next conference. That will be available next Wednesday. 13 songs for $5. I’ll keep you posted on the details. But I just looked at my calendar and saw that it’s exactly five weeks until WorshipGod09 begins, and three weeks until registration closes. This will be our 7th conference since 1999, all held at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD. I’m looking forward to WorshipGod09 for a number of reasons. We’ll be spending three and a half days hearing rich teaching, singing …
