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A Call for Musically Gifted Pastors

By on April 22, 2015 in —Family, —Leading a Congregation, —Mentoring Leaders, —Worship and the Church, —Worship and the Pastor

In 2008, I suggested in Worship Matters that the title of “worship leader” needed to be defined to be helpful. So I defined it this way: A faithful worship leader magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit by skillfully combining God’s Word with music, thereby motivating the gathered church to proclaim the gospel, to cherish God’s presence, and to live for God’s glory. I still like that definition, but I’m less sure the term “worship leader” is serving us. It’s taken on a life of its own and continues to be associated with stardom, predominance, the spotlight, good looks, hipster-ness, and in some cases, …

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Prayers of the Saints (Live) – Our New Album

By on November 28, 2017 in —Leading a Congregation, —Songs of Lament, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Worship and Eschatology

Sovereign Grace Music released our last band album, Sooner Count the Stars, two years ago. I’m happy to announce that after reviewing 170 songs, we finally have another: Prayers of the Saints (Live). It took a while, but I think it was more than worth the wait. Worship albums are as common these days as a new mattress store (come to Louisville and you’ll know what I mean). I receive an email informing me of a new album almost once a week. That’s about 50 albums, each with at least 12 songs, which adds up to 600 new songs a year. And that’s just scratching the surface of the albums being recorded.  So why produce another one? First, …

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Dave Gobbett on Sovereign Grace Music & WorshipGod UK

By on April 7, 2015 in —Sovereign Grace Music, —WorshipGod Conferences

I first met Dave Gobbett in 2000 when he was in the states. His love for the Savior and the church were almost palpable. He was bursting with enthusiasm for God’s gospel, God’s people, and God’s work. He also had an appreciation for Sovereign Grace Music that he shared freely once he got back to the UK (as you’ll see below). He played a key role in my leading the music at Word Alive in 2011. Dave now serves as the Lead Minister at Highfields Church, Cardiff, and is a trustee of Word Alive. I’m grateful that Dave will be teaching a seminar at WorshipGod UK this year called “Secure in Christ.” Recently, he answered a few questions …

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Interview with Matt Searles

By on January 13, 2015 in —Interviews, —WorshipGod Conferences

I met Matt Searles via email a few years ago after hearing his album, Now and Not Yet, acoustic renditions of various Psalms. It was biblical, singable, and moving. Since then he’s also recorded From the River to the Ends of the Earth, another collection of Psalms, only this time with a full band. I was delighted to meet Matt in person at WorshipGod UK last year, and since then have hosted him in my home in Louisville, KY. He’ll be joining us again for WorshipGod UK, 7th-9th May, in Bath. Matt will be teaching a seminar at the conference entitled Shaped by the Psalms. He graciously took time to answer a few questions for us. 1. …

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Blogging to Worship God 3 – Motives

By on January 5, 2006 in —Christianity Online

My post from yesterday is already out of date. Technorati.com now says it searches 24.5 million blogs. That’s 100,000 more than yesterday. Which leads me to ask two questions. What are all these people saying? And why are they saying it? The past two days we’ve been talking about ways Christians can distinguish themselves in the blogosphere – in content and attitude. Today, I want to speak to an area that may not be as obvious – our motives. Every action has one or more motives behind it, whether we’re aware or not. Sometimes our motives are godly, sometimes sinful. Often I find that my motives are mixed. While …

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A Salute to the Average Worship Leader

By on December 14, 2012 in —Leading a Congregation, —Mentoring Leaders

Today I want to salute the average worship leader. Why? If YouTube videos and conference worship bands are any indicator, we’re unintentionally (I trust) cultivating an understanding of musical worship and its leaders that draws more from rock concerts and Entertainment Tonight than biblical principles. We can start thinking that the “best” corporate worship context is characterized by bright stage lights, a dimly lit congregation, Intellibeams, fog, high end musical gear, multiple screens, moving graphics, and loud volumes. We can start to think the ideal leader is good-looking, sings tenor, plays a cool instrument (usually guitar), sports …

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A New Song – Reformation Hymn

By on February 22, 2017 in —Free Sheet Music, —Leading a Congregation

As you’re probably aware, 2017 marks the 500 year anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the door of a church building in Wittenberg, Germany. While not seeking to separate from the Roman Catholic church, he called for substantive and specific changes in her practices and theology. Luther was joined by many other Reformers whose teachings were eventually summarized in what we call the Five Solas, “sola” being a Latin word meaning “alone” or “only.” Sola Scriptura: Scripture alone Solus Christus: Christ alone Sola Fide: faith alone Sola Gratia: grace alone Soli Deo Gloria: glory to God alone These phrases carry …

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Our Only Hope is You – The Acoustic Sessions

By on September 27, 2013 in —Arranging, —Sovereign Grace Music

Every time Sovereign Grace Music releases an album we bump up against the competing values of seeking to create fresh sounds and arrangements and recording something that a group of musicians in a small church can pull off. Our most recent album, Grace Has Come, was no exception. One song in particular that received a more dramatic production was “Our Only Hope is You,” by Neil and Kate DeGraide. It opens with a beautiful piano riff (played by Neil), and includes an orchestral cello part and a passionate lead vocal by Kate. The song is full of the angst of living with a hope that is not yet seen, but a hope in which we are fully confident. But …

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We Have a Winner and Some Encouraging Scriptures

By on December 15, 2020 in —Leading a Congregation

Last week I wrote down my thoughts related to reading through the 6-volume ESV Reader’s Bible a couple years ago. In a word, I loved it. I asked Justin Taylor, VP of Crossway, if they might be able to give away a set, and he generously made one available. So I asked people to post one of their favorite Scriptures in the comments and I would pick one at random. As the Lord would have it, the winner is CJ Finch, who left the verse: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might” (Mt. 22:37). If you entered but didn’t win, I have good news! You still use the Bible you currently own, and since Christmas …

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To Use or Lose the Music Stands: Is That the Question?

By on December 4, 2017 in —Emotions and Worship, —Leading a Congregation, —Leading a Team, —Music Equipment, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Physical Expressiveness

In the past few years, a number of voices have emerged encouraging church musicians to lose their music stands.  I don’t think anyone is saying it’s a matter “of first importance” to put the music stands away. But people have said if you really want to serve your church, you won’t use them. Reasons to Strike the Stands Here are some of the most common reasons people give for losing the stands. In many churches, a separation already exists due to a stage. Removing the stands removes the visible barrier. Musicians and vocalists tend to stare at their stands. When you remove them, musicians look up, look out, and are more engaged. …

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Reflections from WorshipGod17: Human and Holy

By on August 8, 2017 in —Leading a Congregation, —WorshipGod Conferences

It’s been over a week, but I’m still enjoying the rich time we had at WorshipGod17 MidWest. The conference was called Human and Holy: Exploring Healthy Tensions in Our Gathered Worship. We looked at the inherent tensions that surface when the human encounters the Holy: orthodox and on fire, rootedness and relevance, structure and spontaneity, event and every day, already and not yet. There are always a few things that stand out to me after a conference. Here’s this year’s list. Life, Not Production Because this year’s conference fell in the midst of a few other events (live recording, a trip to Mexico, our daughter’s wedding), it felt less …

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Music is Great. Jesus is Greater.

By on July 7, 2017 in —Emotions and Worship, —Expressiveness, —Family

This past May, our youngest child, McKenzie, graduated from Boyce College with a degree in biblical studies, focusing on music and worship. After 4 1/2 years of study, persistence, practice, and dependence on God’s grace, she finally joined the ranks of those who have a college degree. In her final semester, she had to give a senior recital. Thanks to the excellent instruction from her voice teacher, Chandi Plummer, McKenzie has expanded her vocal range significantly, grown in knowing how to care for her voice, and become much more effective at communicating emotion and dynamics when she sings. All those aspects were on full display …

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WorshipGod Northeast Coming Soon

By on February 9, 2017 in —WorshipGod Conferences

Since 1999, I’ve been leading conferences to serve anyone involved in planning or leading congregational worship. In 2006, we started calling them “WorshipGod” conferences to communicate that it matters who or what we’re worshiping. A”worship conference” can refer to any kind of worship. It’s worshiping GOD that distinguishes what Christians do from all other kinds of worship. Only Christian worship is initiated by God the Father, enabled by God the Son, and empowered by God the Spirit. In 2017 we’ve taking a break from a single national conference and planning different regional conferences. The first is WorshipGod Northeast and it …

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Why Was It Such a Holy Night?

By on December 22, 2016 in —Christmas, —Physical Expressiveness

In 2014, Sovereign Grace Music released our second Christmas album, Prepare Him Room. It included a revised version of O Holy Night, with new lyrics written by my friend, Kevin Hartnett. I wrote a post that explained the background of the song and why Kevin rewrote two of the verses. The fundamental reason Kevin gave was that Timothy Dwight’s translation from the French didn’t capture the good news of the gospel in the way that the original lyrics did. Here’s a literal translation of how the song began: Midnight, Christians, it is the solemn hour, When God as man descended unto us To erase the stain of original sin And to end the …

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Together for the Gospel Live III Now Available

By on November 11, 2016 in —Leading a Congregation

For over four decades I’ve been leading congregational worship with bands. My generation saw drums infiltrate church sanctuaries despite the protests of many older saints. It was a hard fought battle with many casualties along the way. In my mind, we didn’t do it because it was hip, or a way of attracting crowds, or an attempt to impress people.  And we didn’t want to water down our theology. Our lives had been turned upside down by the good news of the gospel and we wanted to celebrate that reality using musical styles and accompaniment that made emotional sense. Drums, bass guitars, acoustics, electric guitars, and synthesizers gave …

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