I received this question from a WorshipMatters reader: I’ve heard good things about both Finale and Sibelius as far as notation software goes. Now, I understand that, perhaps depending on the needs, one software might be better than the other. Is it possible to give a quick run-down as to “which should I (i.e. my church) choose if it wants notation software?” Does it matter? What are the different strengths/weaknesses? Let me start by telling you I’m a Sibelius fan. Here’s my story. I used Professional Composer in the early 90’s for notation and then switched to Finale in the early 90’s. Not too long after I moved to Covenant Life Church …
Reflections on the Christian Songwriter’s Retreat
Last week I spent four days in beautiful Mt. Hermon, CA, near San Jose. I had the joy of participating in a Christian Songwriter’s Retreat sponsored by the Mt. Hermon Retreat Center. About 300 folks came to learn how to develop their heart and craft as Christian song writers. The speakers/musicians included Paul Baloche, Joy Williams, Mia Fieldes, Charlie Peacok, Don Moen, Derek Webb, Sara Groves, Phil Wickham, and yours truly. I really enjoyed the format. There were morning and evening sessions with seminars during the day. The main sessions started with about 25 minutes of singing, followed by a 30 minute teaching. I was the speaker in the …
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Desiring God National Conference 2008
A few months ago I was shocked to receive an invitation to speak at John Piper’s National Conference, The Power of Words and the Wonder of God, at the end of September. Shocked for two reasons. First, that I was asked. Second, that it came on the last two days of my vacation with my family. I checked with my dear wife, as well as my friends, and everyone thought I should accept the invitation. Julie’s only request was that I fly back to the Outer Banks to drive home with the family on Sunday. I checked with John and he graciously accommodated my request. I’ll be speaking on the topic of “What Happens When We Sing?” Here’s the trailer for the conference. Desiring …
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Friday Night at WorshipGod08 – David Powlison on the Imprecatory Psalms
On Tuesday, I posted on the first part of the Friday evening session at WorshipGod08. In the final part of the evening I asked biblical counselor David Powlison to speak on the psalmists’ concern for God’s glory on the earth, expressed in the imprecatory psalms. Those are the prayers in the psalms asking God to punish, restrict, or destroy the wicked. For centuries, Christians have tended to confuse, ignore, or despise them. David’s comment on the imprecatory psalms were wonderfully biblical, insightful, and pastoral. He rephrased the focus to be the psalmists’ concern for what we do with evil. You can download an MP3 here. David shared that …
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Friday Night at WorshipGod08 – Praising God with the Psalmist
We’ve finally posted portions of what took place Friday night at the WorshipGod08 conference. The purpose of this session was largely practical. I asked the question, “How do we become churches, congregations, that more accurately, naturally, and consistently, model the kind of relationship the Psalmists had with God?” I set it up by saying we were going to look at four concerns the Psalmists had that we should have as well. We looked at: what we do with our bodies what we do with our minds what we do with our trials God’s glory on the earth We ended up dividing the night into two “messages.” The first message includes the first …
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WorshipGod08 Opening Video
WorshipGod08 began with a video. It wasn’t anything dramatic or multi-sensory. We just wanted to point people’s attention to the theme of the conference, “Rediscovering the Psalms.” Different passages from four Psalms (96, 103, 40, 145) were read by people from five nationalities to communicate the relevance of the Psalms to all peoples and cultures. Jacob Campbell, a member of Covenant Life Church, did a great job putting the video together for us. Roger Hooper, another member of Covenant Life, composed the score. Since I’ve had requests from many people to see it again, here it is. If you’re interested, you can download the Quicktime …
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Recommended Books from WorshipGod08
At the WorshipGod08 conference we recommended and then gave away a number of books. I told the attendees that our purpose was not simply to buy books but to build a library (a phrase I stole from CJ Mahaney, who has used it for years). I wanted to post those books here, in the hopes that if you weren’t at the conference you might consider getting them anyway. This list includes books that were recommended in the main sessions as well as books that were recommended in some of the seminars. Theology of the Psalms How to Read the Psalms – Tremper Longman III Great introduction to understanding the Psalms. Transformed by Praise – Mark Futato Explores …
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What I Learned from Leading WorshipGod08
I think I’ve recovered from last week’s conference. What a joy to see so many folks come from so many different places to learn and experience what God has told us in the Psalms about worship. Although we barely scratched the surface of the topic, I think people went away encouraged and equipped, with plenty to think about and apply. After a few weeks, I’ll meet with the admin staff and talk about what worked and how we can serve people more effectively at the next WorshipGod conference in 2010. In the mean time, I wanted to share a few things I learned during the course of leading this year’s conference. 1. Having a detailed schedule really …
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Interview with Tim Smith of Mars Hill
No, this isn’t me interviewing Tim Smith. It’s Tim interviewing me, which he did this past March when I was out for the Text and Context conference at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Tim is a good friend, and someone who thinks carefully about what biblical worship is and should be. Although our church situations are different, we share the conviction that our job as worship leaders is to help people exalt Jesus Christ in their minds, hearts, and wills. We were able to spend some time together while he was here for WorshipGod08. The interview lasted over an hour, but was cut up into smaller sections. Tim just posted the shorter videos on his Doxologist …
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WorshipGod08 Conference
Hard to believe it, but the conference I’ve been working on for the past year has finally come and gone. I’m one tired, happy, grateful, amazed guy. God has been very kind. About 1700 folks came from all over to learn what the Psalms tell us about worshiping God, attend seminars designed to address specific practical areas, and fellowship with like-minded believers. We laughed, we cried, we sang, we listened, we studied, we played, we grew—all for the glory of the Savior. We also released our new Psalms CD, which I think is one of our best so far. In the next few weeks I’ll be posting some reflections about the event, as well as links …
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Thoughts from Mark Dever and David Powlison
Yesterday I posted answers to two questions I asked the speakers who will be addressing us at next week’s WorshipGod08 conference. The questions were: “What do you hope will be filling people’s minds and hearts as they walk away from your message?” and “How do you hope your message will change the way they think about the Psalms and worshiping God?” Today I wanted to share two more responses, this time from Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, and David Powlison, author and biblical counselor with the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. Mark Dever (Glorifying Christ with the Psalmist) I pray that people …
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Thoughts from WorshipGod08 Speakers
Blogging is minimal at the moment as I’m preparing for the WorshipGod conference next week. With 45 seminars and 6 main sessions, I think the 1600+ people who are coming will have plenty to chew on. But what I’m most anticipating is God encountering folks in ways that are unique to their situations. Encouraging a leader who’s grown weary. Convicting a musician of self-exalting pride. Strengthening relationships between team members, husbands and wives, pastors and worship leaders. Equipping a keyboardist to serve her church more effectively. Hopefully even healing some who are physically ill. I’m grateful that even though I don’t know every person’s …
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Listening to Music – Erosion or Accumulation?
The title of this post comes from Russ Bremeier’s weekly Music Connection Newsletter from Christianity Today. It’s a helpful way to keep up on what’s happening in the Christian music world. Here’s the introduction to one of his recent emails: Have you ever noticed how an impression of a song or album can change with repeated listens? Thank goodness it doesn’t happen too often for me, but there are times when I’m nagged by the feeling that I got a review wrong because my opinion of the album has since changed. Depending on that change, I call it erosion or accumulation. Erosion occurs when an album I initially love begins to wear on me—not …
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Does God Sing?
At the end of September I’ll be speaking at the Desiring God National Conference, The Power of Words and the Wonder of God. To help promote the conference, they videotaped interviews with all the main speakers, which include Sinclair Ferguson, Paul Tripp, and Mark Driscoll. Scott Anderson spent about 90 minutes asking me various questions related to singing, the theme of my message at the conference. In this clip I talk briefly about how singing praise to God is partly motivated by knowing that God himself sings. Considering the cost the Savior paid to enable us to hear the triune God singing over us in eternity is a thought that never fails …
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Worship Conference Registration Closed
I was informed this morning that when registration for WorshipGod08: Rediscovering the Psalms closed last night a total of 1626 people had signed up to come. That’s both humbling and exciting. What that means is that registration for the conference is closed. People who show up at the door will only be able to attend the main sessions. This is a problem I’m not used to having. A few stats: 760 first time attendees 127 high school students 619 worship leaders 31 international guests (including 14 from Canada) Largest age group: 26-40 with 571 Second largest: 25 and below with 436 Largest church size group: 101-300 with 635 people Largest …