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Songs for Christmas, #2

By on December 8, 2005 in —Christmas

Keith Getty is an Irish composer who is passionate about teaching the Christian faith through theologically rich hymns. We had the joy of hosting him, his wife, Kristyn, and Stuart Townend for an event this past September. I was inspired and challenged by Keith’s vision to use music to teach theology in the church. New Irish Hymns #3 (he’s produced 4 thus far) is dedicated to songs about the Incarnation. The musical style ranges from orchestral to light pop, with a touch of Celtic influence. Keith did all the orchestrations, and vocals are handled by Kristyn Getty, Margaret Becker, and Joanne Hogg. This project steers clear of nostalgia and …

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Announcing the Sovereign Grace Songwriting Contest Winner

By on April 28, 2009 in —Contests, —Song Downloads, —Songwriting

What? You say you didn’t even know we had a songwriting contest? No surprise. It was pretty low key. At the start of 2009, I sent out an email to the Sovereign Grace worship leaders announcing a contest for 14-22 year old songwriters. The rules were pretty simple. Submit up to two original congregational songs by mid-February. The winner would receive an ESV Study Bible and a $50 iTunes certificate. Among the promising entries were At the Cross by J’Nelle Smith and You Will Sustain by Philip VanderWeide. But the winner was 22 year old Peter (PJ) Kemerer of Corning, NY who sent in Gift of Grace. It’s an uptempo 6/8 song that focuses on …

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The Excellency of Christ: Quotes from John Flavel

By on October 8, 2008 in —Books, —Other Events, —Worship and Christ, —Worship and Life, —Worship and the Spirit, Devotions

Got back yesterday from the Straight Up conference at Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago, IL. I was there with CJ Mahaney, who spoke on “A Divine Perspective” from 1 Cor. 1:1-9. I’ve probably heard that message 5-6 times and never tire of being challenged to notice more of what God is doing in those around me, as Paul did with the Corinthian church. I had the privilege of leading worship and teaching a seminar on The Task of the Worship Leader. It was great meeting some folks who read this blog, and I had the opportunity to reconnect with my friends Andi Rozier, Matt Stowell, and Matthew Westerholm, who came to WorshipGod06 and WorshipGod08. Very …

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How Do I Get New Song MP3s to My Band Members Legally?

By on October 19, 2010 in —Leading a Team, —Music Legalities, —Musicians & Vocalists

Tim wrote me to ask a question every one who works with music in the church has probably asked at least once, if not a hundred times. I was wondering how you handled the distribution of burned CDs in your music ministry. Is there anyway to do this legally? I would love to download and distribute songs on mixed CDs for two main reasons: 1) To help my musicians be familiar with new songs before rehearsal 2) To encourage Christians I am counseling to listen to songs that admonish/encourage/help them worship God in the specific area of their spiritual life that they are struggling in. I sent Tim’s question out to some of the guys who help …

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Managing Multiple Musicians

By on June 16, 2006 in —Leading a Team, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Vocalists

Not too long ago I received an e-mail from someone whose music team has grown, resulting in less-gifted musicians still on the team. He asks: Do you set thresholds for talent/ability that must be met in order for people to participate in the leading worship?  What about ‘good people’ who don’t meet your thresholds? As a corollary, how do you manage multiple musicians who ‘pass muster’ wanting to play the same part?  In other words, do you have 4 guitarists every Sunday, or do you rotate your players? Every growing church will eventually face the issue of too many instrumentalists and/or vocalists. Here are a few suggestions and ways we’ve …

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Songs that Celebrate the Resurrection in View of the Cross

By on February 26, 2010 in —Easter, —Worship and Christ

I’ll never make any apologies for encouraging Christians to live cross-centered lives, or leaders to lead in gospel-centered ways. Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross which reconciled us to God will always be central to our faith. But while we are called to glory in the cross of Christ (Gal. 6:14), the death of Christ isn’t meant to stand alone in our thinking or preaching. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor. 15:17-19) Still, …

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The Book is Finally Done

By on November 28, 2007 in —Worship Matters book

For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, you know that I’ve been working on a book for over a year now. I’m happy to report that I’m finally done. The book will be called Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God and will be published by Crossway. I mailed in the final manuscript about two weeks ago, and I’m one happy guy. Lord willing, it will be available in April. The book is written for those who lead congregational worship in song, but I think it will serve anyone in leadership, as well as Christians who want to discover more about what it means to worship God. Not surprisingly, I’m already …

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Looking for Free MP3 Messages or Sermons on Worship?

By on August 29, 2007 in —Free Messages

Since a few dozen bloggers have already announced that we at Sovereign Grace Ministries have decided to give away all our message MP3’s, I thought I should do the same. Especially since I work here. We decided to give away all past and future messages simply because we hope more people might benefit from their content. I always appreciate it when I go to a site and can download messages for free with no hassle. Now you can do that at the Sovereign Grace website. Free messages can be a mixed blessing. You end up with a overloaded iPod filled with sermons you never have time to listen to. I’ve been there. In fact, I still am. So, to make it …

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Looking for Stories…

By on October 4, 2006 in —Worship Matters book

Many of you know I’m writing a book for Crossway, to be assigned the catchy name of Worship Matters. I’m in the middle of a chapter tentatively called "The Word in Worship." I’d be interested in hearing from any of you who have stories to tell about how the Word of God has been used fruitfully or not at all in times of corporate worship. What are the benefits you’ve seen of honoring Scripture? How have you seen God’s Word creatively presented? What elements and practices have you seen that vie for its authority? I’m not so much interested in opinions or reflections as I am real life situations that you’ve seen, led, or experienced. I’ll …

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Top Ten Reasons to Register Now for the WorshipGod06 Conference

By on July 19, 2006 in —WorshipGod Conferences

Some of you who have heard me talk about the WorshipGod06 conference, "The Glory of His Presence," are still wondering whether or not you should come. To help you with your decision, I’ve taken the liberty of listing the top ten reasons why you should make this a matter of prayer. #10. Gaithersburg, Maryland, like all of metropolitan Washington, D.C., is lovely in August; a veritable tropical paradise, a vacation hot-spot, rivaling the Bahamas in appeal. #9. Pre-registration ends in 5 days, July 23. You can still register at the door, but you won’t get a fancy pre-printed name tag, and you’ll avoid the potentially dangerous experience …

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How Can Worship Matters Serve You More Effectively?

By on December 29, 2009 in —Websites

Like many of you, I’m in the midst of reflecting on 2009 and planning for 2010. One of my goals is to make Worship Matters more effective in serving the folks who read it. That’s you. If you’re involved in leading corporate worship in your church or ministry, I’m especially interested in knowing anything I can do that would make this blog better. Some changes I want to make include: more consistent posts (duh) more music and book reviews more interviews from pastors, theologians, and musicians more analysis of current trends or events blog redesign free resources tab Could you take a moment to comment below and tell me what …

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WorshipGod08 Conference

By on August 2, 2008 in —WorshipGod Conferences

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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The Joy of Developing Song Writers

By on February 6, 2008 in —Songwriting

For the past few years, we’ve been trying to encourage and develop the songwriters in Sovereign Grace churches. This past week we spent three days with thirteen song writers working on songs for an upcoming Psalms project, to be released at the WorshipGod08 conference. It was one of the most encouraging annual retreats we’ve had. Songwriters sometimes think that the only model they can follow is worship leaders like Matt Redman or Chris Tomlin. I thank God for those guys and others like them. God has gifted them with the whole package of vocal, melodic, lyrical, and leadership gifts. Unfortunately, those kind of song writers are rare. We don’t …

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Monday Devotions – Preaching the Gospel to Myself

By on February 27, 2006 in Devotions

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Col. 1:21-23) Do you find your life is often an emotional roller coaster? Is your perspective dependent on the trials or blessings your’e currently experiencing? That’s not God’s intention. He wants us to remain "stable and steadfast, …

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Four People Are Going to WorshipGod West for Free

By on May 20, 2013 in —Contests, —WorshipGod Conferences

WorshipGod2013 West: Called to Be Faithful is a little over five weeks away (June 27-29) and some of the seminars are beginning to fill up. We have a great list of teachers lined up this year, both in the main sessions and the breakouts. Kevin DeYoung, Craig Cabaniss, Jon Payne, Donald Whitney, John Martin, Steve & Vikki Cook, Sherri Gould, and more. In addition, Enfield will be leading us in song for a session, and Matt Papa will be joining us to share a few songs. As always, there will be a few surprises, a lot of laughter, and rich times of worshiping God through song, preaching, and fellowship. I’m especially excited about this year’s …

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