Last week I asked people to answer the question, “Why does worship matter?” in 100 words or less. I said I’d pick the top 20 answers and send them a copy of Worship Matters, so that they could post a review on their blog. I received some great answers from as far away as Australia. Of course, if you live in Australia, you don’t think that’s far at all. Here are some of my favorite responses. Ryan James said worship matters because everyone worships. Worship matters because it is the inescapable activity of all people everywhere regardless of whether they are a Christian or even “religious.” All people have some sort of “god” that they orient …
Tag Archives | My Book
Free Copy of Worship Matters for Twenty Bloggers
Worship Matters, the book, has been out for a few weeks now, and I’ve been encouraged by initial responses. When I was writing it, I prayed that the book would be give worship leaders, pastors, and musicians a clear and practical biblical perspective on how they can most effectively serve the church in the area of corporate worship. Seems to be having that effect so far. A few folks have already reviewed the book on their blog. You can check them at Discerning Reader, Gospel Prism, and CROSS-eyed. In an effort to get word out I’m giving away 20 copies of Worship Matters for people who will review it on their blog. Just send me an email at the …
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Worship Matters Book Giveaway
At some point I want to give away some copies of my book, but I just learned that the folks at blog.worship.com are doing just that this week. In addition, they’ll be posting the four videos I did for the book that outline the four sections: The Leader The Task Healthy Tensions Right Relationships Stop by and check it out. …
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Reflections on Leading Worship at Together for the Gospel
If you just read the comments on my last Together for the Gospel post, you might be tempted to think that things went flawlessly. Not the case. Practically every time I lead I learn something new about what I’m doing, even though I’ve been leading worship for over 30 years now. I pray that I’m always learning something. Here are some of the things I learned, put into practice, or remembered this year. You can experience and express strong emotions for God while singing hymns. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone say that hymns are dry, academic, lyrically dense, and inappropriate for “passionate worship.” That may be true in some …
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Worship Matters Interview
Yesterday I did an hour long interview with Paul Edwards of station WLQV in Detroit, Michigan. We actually met each other last week at the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, Kentucky. I was able to explain a little more fully some of the topics I cover in my book, Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God. Paul is a pastor in a local church and understands first-hand how congregational worship can become a source of division and heated debate. I appreciated the depth of his questions and his obvious concern for doing more than entertaining his listeners. You can check out the interview by clicking here. …
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For Future Generations
One of the reasons I wrote Worship Matters was not simply so that people would read it, which I hope they do, but so that it might serve as a training tool for future leaders. That’s why I dedicated the book this way: Ps. 71:18 has been a favorite verse of mine for years. It says, “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.” God has kindly answered my prayer. (BTW, this picture comes courtesy of my oldest daughter, Megan, who posted it on her blog.) …
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Worship Matters — the Book — is Released
Crossway is now shipping copies of my book Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God. The first review I’ve seen is over at blog.worship.com. They got the title wrong, but hey, it’s a very kind review. Here’s a portion of what they wrote: Biblically based and contemporaneous in setting, Worship Matters is a book we believe worship leaders will find both encouraging and challenging. Consider giving a copy to your worship team, pastor, and worship leader. This one is a definite must read. You’ll have to determine that for yourself. In the mean time, I’d appreciate your prayers that God would use this book to …
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Looking for Translators
Sovereign Grace Ministries is one of a growing number of ministries (including Desiring God and 9Marks) working with and supporting Open Source Mission. The goal of OSM is to build a community of volunteer translators who will collaborate to make gospel-centered resources available in as many languages as possible. Once the books or articles are translated, the finished translations will be available online for free at gospeltranslations.org. It will function like Wikipedia, but instead of producing encyclopedia entries, the content will be translations of Christian books and articles. Because the majority of Christian materials are published …
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The Book is Finally Done
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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Subtitle Update
Thank you to everyone who submitted a suggestion and/or ideas for a subtitle for my book. What we finally chose was actually a combination of a number of suggestions. Matt Lowe proposed, “Leading Others to Exult in God’s Glory.” I changed “God’s glory” to “the Greatness of God,” and my friend Ken Boer suggested the word, “encounter” instead of “exult.” That led to the subtitle we’re going with, which is, “Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God.” Both Matt and Ken will be receiving a $50 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble. While I could have gone with no subtitle, and I certainly don’t think a subtitle makes or …
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One Step Closer to a Subtitle
Thanks to everyone who contributed ideas for a subtitle for my book. So kind of you. There were a number that made an impact on me (A Plea to An Emerging Generation of Leaders), some I laughed out loud at (Worship Matters: Yo Quiero Taco Bell), and others that made me think. After reading them all, these are the options I’m considering at the moment: 1. Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God 2. Worship Matters: Biblical Foundations for Leaders 3. Worship Matters: A Practical Theology for Leaders 4. No subtitle I’d like to get a quick vote from you all as to which one you think an atheological twenty-something …
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Book Update and Looking for a Subtitle
This past Tuesday morning I sent a semi-finished version of the book I’m writing to my editor. It’s funny how you can work on something for over a year and a half and still end up making a major push at the end. Part of the explanation is that last week my good friend C.J. Mahaney spent two days with me going over every word. His comments, thoughts, and insights were invaluable, but resulted in some more work. At this point, Crossway has the manuscript and will be getting an edited copy back to me in a month or two. In the mean time I’ll have a few friends review the manuscript again. It’s great to be able to write a book in committee. There’s …
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Suffering and the Cross
I’m currently in Chicago, Illinois at the Moody Pastors’ Conference. I have the opportunity to teach a few workshops and present a couple songs. It’s been a joy to meet some folks who have been reading Worship Matters. I even ran across some old GLAD fans. Of course, most GLAD fans I meet are on the older side. I sent in all but one chapter of the rough draft of my book to my editor this past Saturday. I’m hoping to finish the last chapter tonight. It’s a chapter addressed to pastors. It’s harder to write than I anticipated. There’s so much I want to say to pastors about the significance of their role in leading worship. Worship is a pastoral …
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Worshiping God Should Make Us Holy
Thought I’d post a brief section from a chapter I wrote on "Living for God’s Glory." In it I describe different ways corporate worship should change the way we live. Feel free to leave any thoughts. Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement regarding my current book project… It is impossible for us to rightly consider God apart from his holiness – his wrath against sin, his steadfast opposition to injustice, and his righteous judgment of the wicked. These aren’t exactly popular or seeker-sensitive topics, but they describe the God we worship. But the more we love “worship,” the more we should hate sin in all its manifestations. …
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Motivating the Church to Worship God
If you read this blog regularly you know I’m coming down to the wire on my “kind of” first draft for a book I’m writing for Crossway. THANK YOU to everyone who responded to my previous post asking about the challenges you face as a worship leader. Your thoughts are helping and guiding me as I write. I had a fruitful day of writing yesterday and actually finished three chapters. I’ve been able to borrow from some of the posts I’ve written on this blog as well as some material from my first draft of the book. I very much feel the effect of people’s prayers. I’m really enjoying the process of writing, which is completely God’s grace. The book …