After months of planning and recording, Come Weary Saints, the latest project from Sovereign Grace has been released. At the Sovereign Grace Music site we say that “Come Weary Saints is an invitation to redirect your focus to the God whose love has been forever demonstrated at the cross of Calvary.” The CD contains twelve songs, mostly written with a congregation in mind, that reference our trials and suffering in a genuine but redemptive way. In his book, The Wages of Spin, Carl Trueman wrote an article called “What Can Miserable Christians Sing?” He warns: “A diet of unremittingly jolly choruses and hymns inevitably creates an unrealistic …
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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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Christ Will Be My Hideaway
One of the unexpected benefits of the COVID-19 crisis has been the vast amount of music being produced. Previously untapped creativity is showing up in live streams from living rooms, video montages, and new songs. Who knows what songs might never have been written apart from being forced to isolate? In mid-March, my good friend from the UK, Tim Chester, sent me some lyrics he had written, taken from Psalm 91. To be more specific, he subtitled it: “A song for the coronavirus outbreak based on Psalm 91.” I’ve collaborated with Tim before (Come Praise and Glorify, Reformation Song), and love writing with him. He’s committed setting God’s …
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Do I Lead To Impress or To Serve?
One of the things I’ve enjoyed about moving to Louisville two years ago and helping to plant Sovereign Grace Church is the opportunity to train interns from Southern Seminary and Boyce College. I meet weekly with a group from each school to talk theology, focus on heart issues, and work on music and leadership skills. They also serve on Sundays and help out with Sovereign Grace Music. Young musicians and leaders are often overly self-conscious and nervous. While confidence comes with experience, we don’t want to overcome self by becoming more assured in ourselves. So one of my goals for the interns is that they get to the place where …
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Getting Ready for WorshipGod East and West
The past few weeks I’ve been at work preparing for WorshipGod East and WorshipGod West. I’m excited for the way things are coming together and wanted to let you know what’s going on, since we don’t expect to have the website up until Feb. 1 and people have been asking for details. WorshipGod West will be held June 27-29 at Calvary Church, Santa Ana, CA. The folks at Calvary have enthusiastically welcomed us and we can’t wait to hold the conference there. WorshipGod East is going to be Aug. 1-3 at Highview Baptist Church East, Louisville, KY. They have also been extremely gracious and kind. For the East conference I’m working on offering some …
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Song for Those with Disabilities
The 16th chapter of my book, Worship Matters, is called “To Cherish God’s Presence.” I talk about how one of the effects of biblical corporate worship is a greater pursuit of God’s active presence. I wrote: For many years I’ve sung spontaneous songs during corporate worship that I believe are a form of prophecy. They’re similar to a spoken prophetic impression from the Lord, only they’re sung, they rhyme, and are often sung “from God to us.” I’ve never believed for a moment that the words I sing are “word for word” from the Lord. That’s called Scripture. But these songs seem to consistently communicate in verse the Lord’s …
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Walking with the Wise – Our Newest Kids’ Album
I’m thrilled that our latest kids’ album, Walking with the Wise, is finally available. This is the third Sovereign Grace kids’ album, the second being To Be Like Jesus (June 2009), and the first, Awesome God (Aug. 2004). Walking with the Wise contains 13 songs based on different verses from the book of Proverbs. Titles include W-I-S-D-O-M, Make Me Wise, A Good Friend, Lazy Bones, A Cheerful Heart, and All Ears. While the number of “worship CDs” for children has increased exponentially in recent years and may have reached a saturation point, many of them assume that kids are already Christians. One of our aims in making kids’ albums is to …
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Choirs in Worship
In an earlier post I mentioned a question left in one of the comments. Collin wrote: With my limited experience I am able to lead a full band on Sunday mornings but it stops there. Our church has many capable individuals that would be involved in a choir but my limitations keep me from taking the plunge and just going for it with some simple choir pieces. Do have any suggestions, for someone with my limited experience, how to go about leading a choir? Should I hold off and wait until I have proper training in leading a choir? I know a choir would serve our worship time so it is something I would like to see on occasion on Sunday mornings. In …
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What Books to Read?
At the WorshipGod06 conference, and a number of times since then, I’ve been asked to recommend a basic reading list for worship pastors and musicians. While no book can replace the study of God’s Word itself, other books can help us grasp biblical truths more clearly so that we return to Scripture with renewed vigor and faith. Here are a few books that I think are helpful, although I know many more could be added. This is just to get you started. I’ve listed them by category, starting with books that are smaller and more introductory in nature, and ending with books that are a more challenging (but very fruitful!) read. By the way, I wouldn’t …
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Monday Devotions – Am I Being Stupid?
“Stupid” is a word that we discouraged our children from using as they were growing up. That was because they typically used it when they were fighting with a sibling or responding to a decision they weren’t too happy about. But God doesn’t hesitate to use stupid to describe some of the ways we act. He tells us in Proverbs 12:1: Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. I’ve had fresh opportunity to apply this verse after the WorshipGod06 conference. While the overwhelming majority of the feedback we’ve received has been positive, there are some who were disappointed or strongly disagreed …
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Monday Devotions – How Sweet and Aweful
When planning the songs for the Together for the Gospel conference with Mark Dever, he suggested a hymn that I knew about but had never sung. It’s called How Sweet and Awful is the Place, and was written by my historical hero, Isaac Watts. Numerous guys came up to me at the conference and told me how much the words had affected them. Terry Stauffer from Alberta, Canada blogged on it. As I was considering what to post this morning, the words of the hymn kept coming to mind. 1. How sweet and aweful is the place With Christ within the doors, While everlasting love displays The choicest of her stores. 2. While all our hearts and all our songs Join …
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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, …
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Helping People Glory in Christ at Christmas
This past Sunday I had the privilege of leading the singing at my home church. At Christmas time there’s sometimes a tension between choosing to sing songs that are “comfortably Christmasy” or songs that help people glory in the miracle of God becoming man. So here’s what we went with: Hark! the Herald Angels Sing Glory be to God free mp3 download (from the Savior CD) Emmanuel, Emmanuel (from the Savior CD) What Child is This? Before the Throne of God Above We started with Hark! the Herald Angels sing because it’s one of the most theologically rich Christmas carols we sing. After that, I shared that there are many things to love …
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Shout to the Lord on American Idol
As a pastor and professional musician, I find American Idol interesting on a number of levels. It’s fascinating to see how a simple idea can capture the attention of millions, how people respond to evaluation, how people can be so misled about what they actually sound like, how ordinary people handle massive fame, the difference between gifting and hard work, and more. I also appreciate how some of the contestants have used the platform to bear witness to their faith in Christ. Melinda Doolittle, from last season, stood out for her humility, modesty, and joy. Yesterday, I had started a post on my response to Wednesday night’s program. It was …
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Conference Preparation
I’m in the midst of preparing for preaching this coming Sunday at Covenant Life Church. I’ll be speaking on Pursuing God’s Presence, which is also the message I’ll be giving at the WorshipGod06 conference next week. It will be great to have a "dry run" at home before the conference. This is a message that has been on my heart to give for a number of years. I’ve been stirred as I ‘ve realized again how eager God is to reveal Himself to us in evident ways as we meet to worship Him. Our faith isn’t merely academic or mental. We serve a living God who is actively present among His people. Without in any way minimizing how God …