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Getting Ready for WorshipGod East and West

By on January 14, 2013 in —Sovereign Grace Music, —WorshipGod Conferences

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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What Books to Read?

By on November 3, 2006 in —Books, —Other Events

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?

By on August 21, 2006 in Devotions

“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

By on May 1, 2006 in Devotions

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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Shout to the Lord on American Idol

By on April 11, 2008 in —News

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

By on August 2, 2006 in —WorshipGod Conferences

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 …

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Seven Myths of Contextualization

By on November 3, 2015 in —Defining Terms, —Emotions and Worship, —Leading a Congregation, —Liturgy

A wise missionary knows that preaching the gospel to a different culture requires contextualizing your message. The words we use don’t automatically translate to a new culture that lacks the associations and experiences we’re familiar with. We need to find new ways of communicating the old, old story, ways that can be understood, ways that “speak the language” of those we’re ministering to. But even on a local scale, we have to deal with contextualization. That’s because music and liturgy are a language. They can mean different things to different people. In the past few years, much has been written, advocated, and modeled to help us understand …

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Book Update

By on January 23, 2007 in —Worship Matters book

I recently had a change in my book writing schedule. Some of you know I’ve been working on a book for Crossway since last March or so. The main part of my writing has taken place over the last four months. I had given the manuscript to my wise and discerning friend, C.J. Mahaney, for his thoughts. This is what he said:1. Great content.2. I could use an editor.3. My audience is unclear.Those comments led to some significant praying and discussion. The short version is this: I wrote the wrong book. You might think I would have figured that out earlier, but no one caught it, least of all me. So, I’ve narrowed my focus. I’m heading back into the writing …

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CD Review – You and You Alone by Pat and Joel Sczebel

By on November 14, 2007 in —Choosing Songs, —Interviews

Sovereign Grace Ministries has just released our 5th recording in the Overflow series. Overflow began because we simply weren’t able to put out enough projects to keep up with the songs that were being written by Sovereign Grace songwriters. Produced by local churches using local instrumentalists and vocalists, the Overflow highlight emerging songs that encourage passionate, biblically informed, Christ-glorifying worship. One of the aspects of the Overflow CDs I’m most excited about is seeing a greater variety in the songs that Sovereign Grace is producing. “You and You Alone” is an enhanced CD, including guitar charts and lead sheets. It …

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Worship Team or Songleader?

By on February 2, 2007 in —Leading a Congregation, —Vocalists

I received this question from Dennis: What would you say are the benefits of a “worship team” (several singers leading at the front) as opposed to one “songleader”? From what I can see, at least one major benefit is, to have many voices projecting the volume of a song *AT* the congregation, to help them catch on to it. This has been especially helpful when learning new songs. Are there other benefits of a worship team, in your opinion? No church ever needs to feel as though their corporate worship is less biblical, authentic, effective, or genuine because they don’t have a “worship team.” God doesn’t give us specific direction in Scripture …

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Looking for Worship Conference Seminar Ideas

By on October 10, 2007 in —WorshipGod Conferences

Every so often I turn to the readers of WorshipMatters to help me with ideas. Right now I’m planning our next worship conference, WorshipGod08, which will be held July 30-Aug. 2, 2008, here at Covenant Life Church. The theme will be “Rediscovering the Psalms.” We’ll be looking at how the Psalms inform, direct, and inspire our worship, specifically addressing how we can benefit more from the example of the Psalmists’ relationship with God. Some of the main speakers are confirmed, but I’m still working on the final list. Also, I’m waiting to hear back from Matt Redman. He almost came in 2006 but was unable to make it work. I’m in the middle …

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Inida Update #4

By on March 8, 2006 in —My Travels

It’s 9:30 PM, at the end of my first day of teaching at Love-N-Care Ministries. There are close to 80 pastors who have come from surrounding villages and towns to hear teaching on worship, and to reconnect with one another. Right now I can hear them in the distance, singing praises to God in their native tongue of Telugu. The day seemed to go well. One of the things I asked people to pray for is that I would be able to connect quickly with the men. I felt the Lord answered those prayers, even though only a handful of pastors speak English. I addressed the topics What is Worship? and Why Do We Sing? As I expected, being here is helping me see …

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It’s Your Grace – The Acoustic Sessions

By on October 21, 2013 in —Arranging, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Worship and Evangelism, Videos

A few weeks ago we posted the first song from “The Acoustic Sessions,” Our Only Hope is You. These are going to be stripped down versions of songs we’ve recorded on Sovereign Grace albums. We’re starting with songs from Grace Has Come, our latest release, but plan on going back to other albums and recording arrangements that are easier for a smaller church, or any church for that matter, to adapt. In this video, Devon, McKenzie, and Jonatan offer a simpler version of the song, It’s Your Grace. I wrote this song with Doug Plank, a good friend and a pastor at Crossway Church of Lancaster, PA. Right before he left for a two week trip …

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What I’ve Been Working On (not this blog, obviously)

By on December 21, 2007 in —WorshipGod Conferences

When I first started Worship Matters two years ago, I was posting five days a week. I’ve loosened up some on the schedule since then… I’ve been working on a chapter for a book on worldliness edited by my good friend, C.J. Mahaney. Crossway will be publishing it some time next year. It originated from a series of messages we gave at our a few years back on 1 John 2:15-17. My chapter develops the thought that listening to music without discernment or godly intent reveals a heart willing to flirt with the world. Other chapters address possessions, media, modesty. The final chapter suggests ways God has called us to love the world around us. Most …

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Quality or Quantity on the Worship Team?

By on February 17, 2007 in —Training a Team

I recently received this question from John: We currently have four worship teams, giving 15-20 people a month a chance to lead in music, either by singing or playing an instrument. I’d guess that a quarter of these people are very skilled musically, and have been split among the four teams. We’ve discussed cutting the number of teams down to one or two that would be much more musically adept; the downside of this is that many “moderate” musicians would no longer have a chance to share their musical gifts as a part of worship. We want to be sensitive to everyone, yet provide the highest quality music possible for all of the obvious reasons. What …

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