I’ve been encouraged by some of the modern worship songs that have been written recently. On the whole, there seems to be more emphasis on content, biblical faithfulness, and the centrality of the cross. Here are a few songs I think are worth checking out. Burn for You – Steve Fee All Because of Jesus – A jubilant verse, chorus, and bridge exalting Jesus as our creator, sustainer, ruler, and redeemer. Grace Will Be My Song – A simple song with two verses and a bridge that focuses on Jesus as the one whose blood ransomed us from our bondage and whose grace carries us in our weakness. Beautiful the Blood – A meditation on the meaning of the …
Archive | —Choosing Songs
Why Don’t We Ever Sing This Song?
I received this question from Evers: I’ve at times received well-intentioned “suggestions” from folks who’ve enjoyed one song or another while visiting other churches (perhaps on vacation). While occasionally these are nice songs, I’ve often felt that many of the songs simply lack Biblical substance but are musically very catchy…How might you respond to members of a congregation (particularly small churches) who enthusiastically ask for you to play songs that you otherwise feel lacking in substance, or are perhaps even overly man-centered and poorly written? If you think God cares about what we sing in the church, then you’ll eventually …
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Sovereign Grace Website and Songbox
A few weeks ago I wrote a post on downloading music. Since then, we’ve been having discussions about how we can better serve worship leaders who’d like access to our songs but don’t want to buy the whole CD. Just wanted to let you know that Sovereign Grace offers $.99 downloads of any song we’ve ever recorded at Songbox. They’re listed there by project and individual song. Also, we’ve redesigned our website and made it more user friendly. New features include a section that categorizes many of our teachings on worship, the ability to search songs by lyric, theme, or author, and a listing of all our printed music. …
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Singing the Psalms in Worship, Pt. 2
Do the words we sing in worship matter to God? More than most of us realize. What we sing teaches us, shapes us, molds us, and affects us. So it might seem wise to only sing God’s Word, specifically the Psalms, back to him. But, while there is much we can learn from the Psalms for congregational worship, I believe God wants us to sing more than the Psalms when we meet on Sundays. I posted on this topic last week, and a couple folks left gracious comments that offered a different perspective. I started to leave a response in the comments section, but it got so long I thought I’d make it into a new post. We can’t start this discussion by …
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Singing the Psalms in Worship
I started this post last Friday as a Q&A Friday, but never finished it. Oh well… Jacob sent me this question: What is your take on the exclusive use of Psalms in worship?…Since the Psalms were the only Spirit-inspired songs given to the people of God, and because instrument use in the Old Testament is tied to ceremonial law (which was done away with in the New Testament), the belief is that true corporate worship in song is comprised of Psalm singing without instrumentation. Also, it is noted that there are no commands to write uninspired songs of worship in the Bible. What do you think? The other day, Don left a comment also …
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Thoughts on Worship Hits
If you’re a worship leader or music minister there’s a good chance you’ve heard another leader talking about the new song they just introduced. They describe it as the most “incredible, life-changing, awesome, heaven-releasing, God-calling-down, what-you-haven’t-heard-it-yet” song they’ve ever done. You heart sinks as you realize that not only have you not heard the song, you didn’t even know the CD was out. When you think of the 80 CD’s on your desk you still haven’t listened to, you really feel like a loser. “How can anyone in my church even worship?” If you’ve ever had those thoughts, you’re not alone. The problem lies mainly in our sinful …
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Reflections on Easter (With Some Song Recommendations)
Churches throughout the world will celebrate Easter next month, following a church calendar that Christians have used for centuries. Many may also do something unique for Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and/or Good Friday. It should go without saying that Jesus’ substitutionary death for our sins and his victorious triumph over the grave should be our focus not only every Easter, but every week and every day. This is the Gospel of Christ, who is our life – the Gospel that we must continue in and never shift from, the Gospel in which we stand, the Gospel that strengthens us, the Gospel that has been entrusted to us, the Gospel for which we are called …
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The Everlasting God and the Gospel
Ken Boer, who serves as music director at my church, encouraged me to share some of the thoughts I have as I plan songs for a Sunday meeting. This past Sunday morning as Josh Harris and I were talking about songs for Sunday, he asked if we could introduce the song, Everlasting God, by Brenton and Ken Riley. It’s taken from the CD of the same name. Here are the lyrics: Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, We will wait upon the Lord We will wait upon the Lord (repeat) Our God You reign forever Our hope our strong deliv’rer You are the everlasting God The everlasting God You do not faint You won’t grow weary You’re the defender …
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Are We Lying to God When We Sing?
This question was sent in by Larry: Yesterday, I was listening/singing to the song, ‘I Will Glory in my Redeemer’ [by Steve and Vikki Cook]…I was struck especially by these words: I will glory in my Redeemer, My life He bought, my love He owns. I have no longings for another, I’m satisfied in him alone. What is the place of lyrics like these in our songs?…Do you ever struggle with feeling like you are lying to God when you say things like these, even if in your heart you have a desire that they would be true? Is it hypocritical to sing them knowing that they are not a true reflection of your heart? Thanks for a great question, …
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Putting Together a Worship Song List
Last week at the Quest conference for men I had two opportunities to speak to groups of worship leaders from Sovereign Grace churches. The first was a group of about 30 guys who lead on Sunday mornings, the other a larger group of maybe 100 guys who lead in a small group context. One of the questions I addressed in both meetings was the process of choosing a group of songs for a meeting. That process can be one of the more frustrating aspects of leading congregational worship. Here’s a portion of what I shared. We pick the songs we do for various reasons. Maybe a song is in a key we like or our voice sounds good on it. Maybe everyone knows …
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Preparing for and Evaluating the Worship Service
I received this question a while back: Do you happen to have anything that you have given out to worship leaders as far as a check-list of items to review as they are preparing for a Sunday morning? The simple answer to this would be “no.” However, a few years ago C.J. Mahaney and I put together ten questions for evaluating corporate worship, which might serve as a memory jogger. 1. Is our Savior’s substitutionary sacrifice on the Cross clearly and repeatedly presented through song lyrics and exhortations as central to our worship and the means by which we approach God? 2. Is it evident to the church and guests that all we do is rooted …
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Should We Change Musical Settings?
This question was sent in by Juanita: As a classically trained musician and someone who has sung parts for most of my life, I am confused when I see arrangements for hymns that are completely different from what is traditionally written…Do congregations actually sing songs often enough to get tired of the musical arrangements, especially when there are other options available for freshening up a piece? It seems to me that it can actually be unsettling to a congregation, especially for the musical people in its midst, to have the music, i.e., the basic structure of the music, changing. I actually find it distracting to the words myself. As …
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Evaluating Worship Song Lyrics
This question came from Jeff: One of the members of my worship team is struggling with the line from one of your songs, Glory Be to God. The line is “Being’s source begins to be.” She feels that it communicates that God is not eternal, that there was a time when the second Person of the Trinity did not exist and then began to be. I have tried teach her that language always has to be interpreted in context and that the line is basically highlighting the mystery of the incarnation – that Jesus was both infinite God and somehow a finite man (or baby)…Is it acceptable to change the line of the song when we sing it to “Being’s source becomes a …
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Where are the Songs of Lament?
West asked this question in the comments section of a previous post: I was wondering what your thoughts were on how to, if at all, include lamenting in our present context. Should we grow in this area of worship? Does it mean that there is an “over-realized eschatology” in our worship if we don’t? A tendency to lean too heavily on the “not yet” instead of the “now” of our faith and Christian experience?…How do we (if we should at all) join the saints of old, and sit in the ashes as a congregation to weep before God? His question included a reference to an interview with Michael Card, where he refers to lament as the “lost language of worship.” Scripture …
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Why We Write Worship Songs
The feedback from the Valley of Vision CD we produced earlier this year has been very encouraging. But nothing is more meaningful than someone who takes the time to write and let us know how God has used the truth in the songs we write to make Him bigger in their eyes. I wanted to share a portion of a recent e-mail from Jessica that helped me remember why we continue to write songs for the church. This summer was a very difficult season for me, yet spectacular at the same time because God was deeply at work in me. Isn’t He always?!! I started to go through an intense time of panic attacks this summer, where I would literally feel fear and panic …