Back in 1991, I had the privilege of leading a Integrity Music Hosanna! project called ‘Chosen Treasure.” It was a great experience, and helped promote the songs of Sovereign Grace songwriters more than anything we had ever done. Since then, Sovereign Grace Ministries has had different interactions with the folks at Integrity. I spent the last two days at the their Seminars4Worship Event in Pittsburgh, PA, held at Northway Christian Community Church. I met some great folks there who were eager to learn more about how they could serve their churches more effectively. On Monday I did a seminar based on Col. 3:12-17 on”How Music Works in Worship.” …
Search results for "music: Gift or god"
Reflections on My Trip to the UK
Recently I had the privilege of traveling to the UK with my good friends CJ Mahaney and Jeff Purswell to participate in “Two Conferences, One Hope.” The first day was an event for pastors, called “Entrusted with the Gospel.” On Friday we offered a “True Worshipers” conference for anyone involved in planning or leading music in the church. This was the fourth time in two and a half years that Sovereign Grace has partnered with Grace Church Bristol and Sovereign Grace UK., both led by Nathan Smith. When we first came in 2014, people warned us that Brits can sometimes be concerned about the motives of Americans who come across the …
Share this post:
Leading in Light of Christ’s Perfection
Since August 2010, Ken Boer (music director for Covenant Life) and I have had three men working for me at Sovereign Grace: Nathan Edwards (Florida), Matt Richley (Merthyr Tydfil, UK) and Mauricio Velarde (Gaithersburg). It’s been a joy to have them around, growing and learning with them how to serve people more effectively in magnifying Jesus Christ using the Word and music. Each Wednesday morning we meet for about 90 minutes to study a book. We generally take turns sharing what specific sentences or paragraphs impacted us or raised questions for us. Not too long ago we finished The Cross And Christian Ministry by D.A. Carson. It’s a book …
Share this post:
What Do You Say When You Lead Worship? Part 2
Yesterday I described eight worship leader stereotypes who aren’t quite sure what to say when they’re standing in front of a group of people. Today I wanted to give four reasons why we should say anything. 1. Magnify When we’re leading corporate worship, our first responsibility is to magnify the greatness of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. We’re saying with David, “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!” (Ps. 34:3) When I use the word “magnify” I’m not referring to the way a microscope magnifies something very small, but to the way a telescope magnifies something very big that only …
Share this post:
What Does a Worship Leader Do? Pt. 4
Here’s the next part of my proposed definition of a worship leader. An effective corporate worship leader is aided and led by the Holy Spirit. Every leader of congregational worship will acknowledge that biblical worship is impossible apart from the activity of the Holy Spirit. This is at least part of what Jesus meant when he told the Samaritan woman in John 4 that the Father seeks worshipers who worship Him in spirit and truth. Paul also tells us in Philippians 3:3, “For we are the real circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” (See also Eph. 2:18, Eph. 5:18-21, and 1 …
Share this post:
A New Song – Reformation Hymn
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 …
Share this post:
Sin and Sunday Morning
Joel Osteen was interviewed by Byron Pitts on 60 Minutes this past Sunday. I didn’t see the program but was able to watch it at CBS News Online. I recognize that the media can distort what someone actually says. But taken at face value, the interview was concerning. Here’s one portion from the transcript: “You said ‘I like to see myself as a life coach, a motivator to help them experience the life of God that God has for them. People don’t like to be beat down and told ‘You’ve done wrong.’ What do you mean?” Pitts asks. “Well, I think that most people already know what they’re doing wrong. And for me to get in here and just beat ‘em …
Share this post:
New Attitude 2007 Songs
I woke up this morning (late) with the songs from the Sovereign Grace New Attitude conference flowing through my brain. What a joy it was to sing such rich truths and be reminded of the sovereignty, mercy, and goodness of the Savior. What a joy it was to hear such great biblical teaching from Josh Harris, Eric Simmons, Al Mohler, John Piper, Mark Dever, and C.J. Mahaney on the topic of discernment. All the messages are available for free at the Sovereign Grace site. I told Josh and Eric that I don’t know of any conference for singles and young couples that has a 52 year old guy in the band. But it was pure joy to be there along with five …
Share this post:
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 …
Share this post:
Addressing One Another in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs
This past Sunday I had the privilege of speaking at Solid Rock Church, the Sovereign Grace church in Riverdale, Maryland, not far from where I live. I spoke on Eph. 5:15-21 and called the message, “Spirit-filled Singing.” I shared six characteristics of singing that are a result of being filled with the Spirit. My first point was “Spirit-filled singing is to each other,” and based on Eph. 5:19 where Paul says we’re “addressing one another.” You’d think in a passage about singing praise to God that Paul would begin with God. He doesn’t. The first focus of our singing Paul mentions is not God, but one another. Col. 3:16 fills this idea out …
Share this post:
Reflections on the New Attitude Conference
This past weekend I had the privilege of helping to lead the music at the New Attitude conference in Louisville, Kentucky. About 2300 single men and women gathered for four days to exalt God’s name in song, hear biblical teaching on God’s Word and the Gospel, and enjoy rich fellowship in community and family groups. New Attitude was started a number of years ago by Joshua Harris, but is now led by Eric Simmons. Eric and Josh are both in their early 30’s and are seeking to impact younger generations through biblical, humble, Gospel-centered, and wise leadership. The three of us met a couple months ago to talk through what songs we’d …
Share this post:
A Hymn for Ordinary Christians – Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Our church as been trying to memorize one hymn a month for the past ten months. This month we’re working on Great is Thy Faithfulness. I had the opportunity to introduce the hymn yesterday morning and was moved by its history. Here’s what I shared. The story behind Great is Thy Faithfulness should encourage every Christian who thinks of their life as ordinary. There’s no tragic story (think “It Is Well” by Horatio Spafford) associated with this hymn. It’s just the fruit of a faithful man with a simple faith in a faithful God. Thomas Chisholm, who sometimes described himself as “just an old shoe,” was born in a Kentucky log cabin in 1866. …
Share this post:
Monday Devotions – The Happiest People on Earth
“Serve the Lord with gladness.” (Ps. 100a) God cares whether or not there is joy in our hearts when we obey Him. He feels so strongly about this that in Deuteronomy He tells Israel they will be enslaved because “you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart.” (Deut. 28:47) In Ps. 32:11 he commands us “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” Philippians 4:4 sounds the same note: “Rejoice in the Lord, always; again I will say, rejoice.” Obviously, these verses aren’t referring to a superficial happiness that depends …
Share this post:
Matt Redman’s We Shall Not Be Shaken – Review
I first met Matt Redman in 1997 when I was over in England for a worship conference. In a few minutes of conversation a few things stood out to me. He was a young man passionate about impacting his generation with worship songs that communicated biblical truth about God and not simply emotional responses. He was theologically aware and gospel-focused. He was articulate. And he was humble. Over the past years my first impressions have not only been confirmed; they’ve been deepened. After listening to his latest album, We Shall Not Be Shaken, I found myself thanking God once again for Matt’s faithfulness to serve the church with his songwriting …
Share this post:
From the Archives: When Feet Want to be Hands
What do you do as a leader when someone wants to play a specific role on your music team but is better fit for something else? What do you do as a member if that’s you? A number of years ago I preached a message from 1 Cor. 12:12-31. Paul has been answering the Corinthians’ questions about who is “really” spiritual. They were under the mistaken assumption that certain gifts, like tongues, were a sign of true spirituality. Their attitude was dividing the church – the exact opposite of the unity the Spirit wants to bring. Paul presses his point home by using the analogy of the human body. In preparing for the message, I did a little …
