In 1991 I had the privilege of participating in a church plant in Charlotte, NC. It was a thrilling, humbling, faith-stretching, unpredictable adventure that I think every leader should go through at least once. That’s why I’m excited about the Sovereign Grace Ministries Plant! Conference, taking place next month. I have the joy of leading the songs we’ll be singing. Here’s the relevant info: PLANT! | March 24-26, 2011 Location | Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA Cost | $99 (day & session passes available) Who Should Go | Church planters, pastors, pastors who desire to see their church plant churches, members of churches …
Archive | Worship in the Church
Posts regarding the direct practice of worship in the context of the local church.
Esther – An Original Musical
Last year the high school students at my church put on an original musical based on the book of Esther, Queen of Persia. It was written by Martin and Janice Landry, with an original score provided by Martin. Janice happens to be the daughter of the director, Cathy Mays. Cathy has been directing and writing musicals at Covenant Life for years now. All six of my children have been a part of the shows she’s directed, and I know of few people who make acting such a spiritually beneficial experience. I was particularly impressed with this latest production. The songs are memorable, the script is engaging, and the message of God’s sovereign …
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We Have a Winner
Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my previous post casting their vote for the most creative arrangement of a song from our King of Grace album. As many of the commenters said, it was difficult picking which arrangement was the best, creatively speaking. But the overwhelming first choice was Joshua Spacht’s arrangement of “Behold the Lamb,” by Mark Altrogge. Joshua has served as the Director of Music and Worship Ministries at Grace Immanuel Bible Church since May, 2006. He sent me some information about his background that I thought was worth sharing: I grew up in a very musical family outside of Erie, PA where my father served …
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Christmas Mystery
Christmas Mystery He who forged Earth’s iron core And scattered stars to distant skies Came shattered beauty to restore And answer lost ones’ mournful cries. A God who stands among the weak To lift each burden that they face, To lift away their bondage bleak And give them strength in holy grace. The star of hope for all the years, Though spoken of through ages past, Lies born in dust and blood and tears Without His glorious trumpets’ blast. Yet in His tiny hand He holds The power that built the mountains high. His glory shatters earthly molds As angels’ voices split the sky. The angel heralds call out clear To tell us of …
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Twenty Six Years Ago…In the First Light
Twenty six years ago I wrote a song for a friend who was doing a custom album. She was looking for an “all season Christmas song.” I set about writing a song that would highlight what happened before and after the birth of Christ. The result was a song called In the First Light. At the time I had just gotten off the road with the group GLAD. My arrangements and melodies for GLAD were typically on the complicated side, so I intentionally tried to write a simple melody. Ironically, it became one of my most well known songs. It was the first of many times I’d learn complex doesn’t always mean better. Last year Travis Cottrell did a version …
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Spontaneous Song for Those Facing Impossible Situations
During the Christmas season, many people find themselves in the midst of impossibly difficult circumstances. They find out the hard way that pain and sorrow are no respecters of holidays. For these individuals, Christmas becomes the most terrible time of the year. Recently I ran across an insightful and hopeful post by Matt Redmond called “Christmas is for Those Who Hate it Most.” He writes, “We have it sunk deep into our collective cultural consciousness that Christmas is for the happy people. You know, those with idyllic family situations enjoyed around stocking-strewn hearth dreams.” Matt then goes on to remind us that Jesus came for those …
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Songs that Reference God’s Judgments
In a recent post, I suggested that we generally shy away from singing songs about God’s judgments, but that judgment is a theme found in many Psalms and Scriptural songs. I promised that I’d follow up with a post that suggested some songs we can sing that reference God’s judgments and help us think about them in a way that honors God, encourages a passion for holiness, and strengthens our confidence in the gospel. So one month later, here we are. (If you didn’t read my previous post, please read it to get the context.) Before listing the songs, it’s important to mention a few things. First, God is the Judge, not us. We’re concerned about …
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Songs For Christmas 2010
With Christmas fast approaching, I’m sure a lot of us are digging through last year’s Christmas music trying to find something new for this year to add to the traditional carols. With that in mind, here are some albums and songs you might want to check out. Traditional Carols Praisecharts.com has many excellent contemporary arrangements for churches that want to incorporate choirs and orchestral instruments. Use this link. Hymncharts.com offers a similar service, where you can download choral and orchestral parts for many hymns. Wordmusicnow.com offers something similar. O, Holy Night – alt. verses by Kevin Hartnett. Kevin is a member …
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Should We Sing Songs About God’s Judgments?
Some people had questions about my recent review of Doug O’Donnell’s book, God’s Lyrics, which I want to attempt to address in this post. The basic question has to do with the place of singing about God’s judgments. O’Donnell makes the point that many of the songs in the Old Testament rejoice over God’s just judgments (Ex. 15:1-18; 1Sam. 2:10; 2Sam. 22:44-51, etc.) A related theme has to do with God humbling the proud. Both themes are lacking in the song diet of many churches, yet they’re unquestionably present not only in OT songs, but in the New Testament as well (Lk. 1:51-55; Rev. 18:20; 19:1-5). Are You Kidding Me? We can struggle with …
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Review of God’s Lyrics by Douglas Sean O’Donnell
A few weeks ago I finished God’s Lyrics: Rediscovering Worship Through Old Testament Songs. O’Donnell “draws out the historical, exegetical, and theological significance of the songs of Moses, Deborah, Hannah, David, and Habakkuk. He then shows, in the light of the person and work of Jesus Christ, how the lyrics of God’s Word apply to contemporary congregational singing.” (from the back cover) In other words, he’s seeking to answer the question, “What can Old Testament songs teach us about the songs we use for corporate worship today?” His answer? A lot. O’Donnell chose this method for two reasons. First, these songs provide “unique poetic …
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The Functional Limits of Creativity: How Innovative Can We Be with the Gospel?
This past weekend I had the privilege of presenting a workshop at Crowder’s Fantastical Church Music Conference in Waco, TX. Through a series of email discussions, David and I came up with the title, “The Functional Limits of Creativity: How Innovative Can We Be with the Gospel?” When Crowder first contacted me about participating in the conference I wanted to make sure he knew where I was coming from in the area of creativity. I love creativity, but think God has placed limits on its use in congregational meetings. He told me that’s why he wanted me to come to the conference. Well, that made my day. I divided my workshop message into …
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Who’s in Charge Here?
In a church context it’s sometimes difficult to know the difference between leading the singing and leading the meeting. It’s an important distinction. I recently talked to a worship leader who asked about how I’d handle a situation he just went through. His pastor asked him to lead a specific song to close the meeting. In fact, he insisted on it, although the worship leader expressed doubts about its effectiveness. When the end of the meeting came, another leader accidentally dismissed the congregation prematurely. The worship leader was ready to start the final song but people were already streaming out the doors. The pastor caught his eye …
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How Does a Worship Leader Cue the Congregation?
A while back I received an email from Paul asking: One of the central roles of a worship band is to help the congregation to sing. Do you have advice on how a worship band can best cue the congregation? What kinds of things could I tell my instrumentalists and singers to do to help the people come in on the first words of a song or verse? How would you in general encourage congregational singing? Paul’s question highlights one of the differences between leading a group of people to praise God from their hearts and simply playing and singing music for them. While people can certainly join along as we play our songs, it’s helpful when we make …
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New Matthew Smith CD – Watch the Rising Day
Recently I’ve been listening to Matthew Smith’s new CD Watch the Rising Day. Matthew has been contributing to the contemporary hymn-based music of Indelible Grace for years, but has also produced a few of his own albums. He asked me to preview his new CD which I was more than happy to do. Like Indelible Grace, all the songs on Watch the Rising Day are drawn from hymn texts, although not ones you’d necessarily be familiar with. As I’ve read through a few words-only hymnals I’ve been amazed at the wealth that still remains to be explored in old hymn lyrics. Matthew is seeking to mine those treasures and modernize the settings. LYRICS Drawing …
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Discerning The Difference Between Containers and Content
A few months ago I had the privilege of speaking to a few classes at Southern Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. During a Q&A, someone asked me what things we can do to keep our meetings from becoming dull, rote, and routine. Although there are probably a number of ways to answer that question, what came to my mind was the difference between containers and content in our meetings. “Container” describes what’s going on during a particular portion of the meeting. In a more formal church the containers might be listed out in a bulletin and include things like Call to Worship, Prayer of Confession, Assurance of Pardon, Worship in Song, …
