- On the right column there are two search boxes, one is powered by Google and the other by Technorati. Both of them can be used to search on topics from posts within my blog. In the Google box you can also select “the web” to launch a full Google web search.
- On the right below the “Parkview Links” (which feature Parkview related links including John Carlson’s site) you can find numerous “Bible Study / Resources.” These links include several Bible study sites where you can access different translations, do word searches, etc… At Monergism and Desiring God you can access numerous sermons and articles on various topics from the reformed perspective. Finally, there is an ESV search box where you can type in either a scripture reference or perform a word search that will launch you to the findings within the ESV Bible. For those of you who attend Parkview, this is the version Pastor Jeff most commonly sites in his messages.
- Toward the bottom of the right menu bar, I’ve linked to what I have titled Ministry Related Blogs. These are some of the blogs that I frequent. They are quite diverse in content and perspective. Seth Goddin’s blog is actually more of a business/marketing blog, but does offer some insights that are helpful for ministry.
- Finally on the lower part of my left menu bar there is a book currently reading section that links you right to the book for sale on Amazon.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
ESV Search Bar and More
With the blog overhaul I performed last week, I added several new features to my blog that I thought I would highlight for you all.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Evening Activities Canceled
Due to impending icy conditions tonight, all church activities are canceled. The choir is leading worship in the atrium this weekend, so we will have a make-up rehearsal on Saturday morning from 9-10:45 am in the Atrium. This rehearsal will be for everyone in the Christmas Choir, so even if you can't help lead worship in the atrium venue, this rehearsal will still be very important for you to attend. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Bookcrossing.com
Check out bookcrossing.com. This is one of the more unique innovations I’ve seen from the Internet. To the best of my understanding this is how it works. When you are done reading a book you register (at the website) and “release” it to the public by leaving it in a public location to be found by either an innocent passerby or by someone intentionally looking for it who saw it’s location on bookcrossing.com. The idea is simply that people keep releasing books and sharing them with others. I doubt I’ll use it because I have a specific reading list and tend to keep every book I read; however, it might be an interesting experiment for you to try. You can read more about it here.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Who is My Neighbor?
Josh Malone, Pastor of Young Adults at Parkview delivered a powerful message last weekend on the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37. If you don’t attend Parkview or were out of town you can listen to it here.
It is very interesting to me how followers of Christ tend to view their "neighbors" as those who they associate with in the context of Church. To a degree, this is appropriate. We should celebrate and embrace the fellowship of believers. In the same regard our love and friendships should extend, like Christ, far outside the walls of the church. Even to those who’s political and social positions are quite different than our own.
Now, it is one thing to recognize the need, it is another to actually do something about it. Here are some ideas of how we can expand our "neighborhood" to include those outside the church community.
It is very interesting to me how followers of Christ tend to view their "neighbors" as those who they associate with in the context of Church. To a degree, this is appropriate. We should celebrate and embrace the fellowship of believers. In the same regard our love and friendships should extend, like Christ, far outside the walls of the church. Even to those who’s political and social positions are quite different than our own.
Now, it is one thing to recognize the need, it is another to actually do something about it. Here are some ideas of how we can expand our "neighborhood" to include those outside the church community.
- Volunteer at a local hospital to help with the sick who are suffering with cancer or aids
- Get involved in a group that shares your talents like a community singing group or sports league (don’t just play on the church team)
- Host a neighborhood block party
- Help with an after school program or free medical clinic (like our IC Hope ministry)
- Others?
Monday, November 27, 2006
Elisabeth Elliot on Abortion
A topic not far from yesterday’s adoption post is the issue of abortion. How many mothers considering abortion would forgo their plans if they knew their baby was indeed a person, and that this person could be adopted and raised in a loving and caring home? 1.3 millions abortions are performed in the United States every year. Tragic!
A few weeks ago I mentioned a daily devotional my wife receives from Elisabeth Elliot. Today’s devotional on abortion was particularly powerful, so I thought I would share it with you all.
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As I mentioned earlier, some time ago I read of a new medical triumph involving unborn twins. Amniocentesis had shown that one of them had Down's syndrome. The mother decided she did not want that child, so with the simple expedient of piercing the heart of the baby with a long needle, it was killed in the womb. She carried the twins to term and delivered one child alive--the one she wanted to keep--and one child dead--the one she didn't want to keep. This was hailed as a remarkable breakthrough. I would ask you to pause for a moment here and consider this question: what was it, exactly, that was killed? What was it that was not killed? The answer to both questions, of course, is--a child. They were both children. They were twins. I used plain, ordinary words to tell the story--the words the news report used. Nothing ambiguous. Nothing incendiary.
I read the following week in the same magazine about another medical breakthrough. This time doctors had used an instrument inserted into a womb not to kill a child but to save one. This child had a serious heart anomaly which they were able to correct with intrauterine surgery. Can any honest and reasonable person fail to make the comparison here? In the second case, the instrument in the surgeon's hand enabled the tiny heart to keep on working. In the first case, the needle in the surgeon's hand made the heart quit working. What, exactly, should we call that?
The intrauterine surgery was called lifesaving because they fixed a baby's defective heart. What language are we allowed to use when we speak of destroying a heart that's working perfectly! There is a simple and obvious word, but we are not allowed to use it. Well, what about life-destroying? Is that permissible for this neat and efficient technique? Well, not really. Because the word life is explosive. Life is not relevant here. It's the mother's life that we are supposed to consider, nobody else's. The other isn't a life--not one worth living anyway, not one worth the mother's suffering for. So we must not use the ordinary words. They're too emotional. They're loaded. The fact is they stopped the heart. That's all. Just made it quit beating.
I was glad that the writer of the article on the baby whose heart was corrected acknowledged the possibility that fetal surgery might raise an ethical question which the medical world thought it had laid to rest. Might it be necessary, in view of these advances, to ask all over again whether a fetus is a person?
This is the issue today. It is, in the final analysis, the only question that needs to be considered when we speak of the unborn. Is the thing disposable? Is it an object with no life of its own, a bit of tissue which belongs to a woman who has the right to do with it what she chooses? If she needs it and wants it, she keeps it. If she doesn't need it and doesn't want it, she throws it out. So what's all the shouting about?
Truthfulness is the willingness to accept facts. Truthtellers are always regarded as either ridiculous, or so dangerous as to deserve death. "No truth," wrote Hannah Arendt, "that crosses someone's profit, ambition, or lust, is permissible. Unwelcome facts possess an infuriating stubbornness that nothing can move except plain lies."
Here are the unwelcome facts. We were talking about children: the twin who was saved, the child with the defective heart who was also saved, and the twin whose heart was pierced with a needle. They were children. Choices were made regarding those children: deliberate, conscious choices. One, to allow a child to live. Another, to intervene surgically so that a child might live who would otherwise die. (Would the surgeon who performed that operation have dreamed of telling the mother that her baby was not a person? He saved its life, and the mother was grateful.) But in the other case, what was the choice? It was to kill a child. These are the unwelcome facts, but they are infuriatingly stubborn. They will not go away. It was a child. It was killed. Nothing will move those facts except lies.
I ask you earnestly to look at the little creature with eyes and hands and beating heart, held in that safest of places, the mother's womb. No woman who holds such a thing within her doubts that she holds a child. No doctor who extracts it by whatever swift and putatively safe means can deny that what he extracts is a human being, and that what he does is to kill it.
I ask you for God's sake to look at the truth. And I ask you, finally, to think about what Jesus said: "I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40, JB). Jesus will not forget.
A few weeks ago I mentioned a daily devotional my wife receives from Elisabeth Elliot. Today’s devotional on abortion was particularly powerful, so I thought I would share it with you all.
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As I mentioned earlier, some time ago I read of a new medical triumph involving unborn twins. Amniocentesis had shown that one of them had Down's syndrome. The mother decided she did not want that child, so with the simple expedient of piercing the heart of the baby with a long needle, it was killed in the womb. She carried the twins to term and delivered one child alive--the one she wanted to keep--and one child dead--the one she didn't want to keep. This was hailed as a remarkable breakthrough. I would ask you to pause for a moment here and consider this question: what was it, exactly, that was killed? What was it that was not killed? The answer to both questions, of course, is--a child. They were both children. They were twins. I used plain, ordinary words to tell the story--the words the news report used. Nothing ambiguous. Nothing incendiary.
I read the following week in the same magazine about another medical breakthrough. This time doctors had used an instrument inserted into a womb not to kill a child but to save one. This child had a serious heart anomaly which they were able to correct with intrauterine surgery. Can any honest and reasonable person fail to make the comparison here? In the second case, the instrument in the surgeon's hand enabled the tiny heart to keep on working. In the first case, the needle in the surgeon's hand made the heart quit working. What, exactly, should we call that?
The intrauterine surgery was called lifesaving because they fixed a baby's defective heart. What language are we allowed to use when we speak of destroying a heart that's working perfectly! There is a simple and obvious word, but we are not allowed to use it. Well, what about life-destroying? Is that permissible for this neat and efficient technique? Well, not really. Because the word life is explosive. Life is not relevant here. It's the mother's life that we are supposed to consider, nobody else's. The other isn't a life--not one worth living anyway, not one worth the mother's suffering for. So we must not use the ordinary words. They're too emotional. They're loaded. The fact is they stopped the heart. That's all. Just made it quit beating.
I was glad that the writer of the article on the baby whose heart was corrected acknowledged the possibility that fetal surgery might raise an ethical question which the medical world thought it had laid to rest. Might it be necessary, in view of these advances, to ask all over again whether a fetus is a person?
This is the issue today. It is, in the final analysis, the only question that needs to be considered when we speak of the unborn. Is the thing disposable? Is it an object with no life of its own, a bit of tissue which belongs to a woman who has the right to do with it what she chooses? If she needs it and wants it, she keeps it. If she doesn't need it and doesn't want it, she throws it out. So what's all the shouting about?
Truthfulness is the willingness to accept facts. Truthtellers are always regarded as either ridiculous, or so dangerous as to deserve death. "No truth," wrote Hannah Arendt, "that crosses someone's profit, ambition, or lust, is permissible. Unwelcome facts possess an infuriating stubbornness that nothing can move except plain lies."
Here are the unwelcome facts. We were talking about children: the twin who was saved, the child with the defective heart who was also saved, and the twin whose heart was pierced with a needle. They were children. Choices were made regarding those children: deliberate, conscious choices. One, to allow a child to live. Another, to intervene surgically so that a child might live who would otherwise die. (Would the surgeon who performed that operation have dreamed of telling the mother that her baby was not a person? He saved its life, and the mother was grateful.) But in the other case, what was the choice? It was to kill a child. These are the unwelcome facts, but they are infuriatingly stubborn. They will not go away. It was a child. It was killed. Nothing will move those facts except lies.
I ask you earnestly to look at the little creature with eyes and hands and beating heart, held in that safest of places, the mother's womb. No woman who holds such a thing within her doubts that she holds a child. No doctor who extracts it by whatever swift and putatively safe means can deny that what he extracts is a human being, and that what he does is to kill it.
I ask you for God's sake to look at the truth. And I ask you, finally, to think about what Jesus said: "I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40, JB). Jesus will not forget.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Prayer for Adoption
Tonight my wife and I prayed the following prayers to God...
In this vein, tonight Carrie and I discussed adoption (in light of it being National Adoption Month). In our discussion it became very clear that Romans 12:1 does not give us the option of making any easy choices. The choice cannot be between easy and harder. The only question we can ask is “what harder?” In other words, our lives are to be living sacrifices and sacrifice requires the faith to take a risk. In life this may take shape in the commitment to seminary training, the adoption of a needy child, the sacrificial giving of our resources, the serving as missionaries to an un-reached people group, or all of the above. Too many people, by waiting for the right time or right circumstance, end up doing nothing. “Nothing” is not an option for the follower of Jesus… the only question we should ask is how and when? Of course, I am referring to a life of sacrifice and not only the question of whether or not one should adopt.
To be quite honest, my wife and I are not presently feeling lead to adopt; however, we are ready and willing. There are thousands upon thousands of children around the world who will grow up raised in orphanages, never knowing what it means to be kissed, loved, nurtured, and protected by loving parents. I only ask that you join us in praying with open hearts and open hands that we would all be available to God’s calling. For more information and testimonies about adoption and National Adoption Month, click here.
- We want to give our lives to be whatever you want, be it big or small
- If you would like us to adopt an orphan either from the United States or from around the world, we are willing
- If this is something you would call us to do, we trust that you would provide the resources necessary to make this happen
In this vein, tonight Carrie and I discussed adoption (in light of it being National Adoption Month). In our discussion it became very clear that Romans 12:1 does not give us the option of making any easy choices. The choice cannot be between easy and harder. The only question we can ask is “what harder?” In other words, our lives are to be living sacrifices and sacrifice requires the faith to take a risk. In life this may take shape in the commitment to seminary training, the adoption of a needy child, the sacrificial giving of our resources, the serving as missionaries to an un-reached people group, or all of the above. Too many people, by waiting for the right time or right circumstance, end up doing nothing. “Nothing” is not an option for the follower of Jesus… the only question we should ask is how and when? Of course, I am referring to a life of sacrifice and not only the question of whether or not one should adopt.
To be quite honest, my wife and I are not presently feeling lead to adopt; however, we are ready and willing. There are thousands upon thousands of children around the world who will grow up raised in orphanages, never knowing what it means to be kissed, loved, nurtured, and protected by loving parents. I only ask that you join us in praying with open hearts and open hands that we would all be available to God’s calling. For more information and testimonies about adoption and National Adoption Month, click here.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Black Friday
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. Right now many of you may be fighting the lines and crowded parking lots in order to get a good deal. Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead in a store today. Part of our discussion at the dinner table yesterday in our house included where the term “Black Friday” originates. Here is a definition from Wikipedia. Not only does Black Friday connotate several things, but it is also only number four in the most profitable shopping days of the year.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year. Many consider it the "official" beginning to the holiday season. Most retailers will open very early and usually provide massive discounts on their products, and offer doorbuster deals to draw people to their stores.For the whole article with links, go here.
Although Black Friday is typically the busiest shopping day of the year in terms of customer traffic, it is not typically the day with the highest sales volume. That is usually either Christmas Eve, the last Saturday before Christmas, or December 26th
One theory is that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss for most of the year (January through November) and made their profit during the holiday season. When this would be recorded in the financial records, common accounting practices use red ink to show negative amounts and black ink would show positive amounts. Black Friday is the beginning of the period where they would no longer have losses (the red) and instead take in the year's profits (the black).
Another theory comes from the fact that shopping experience on this day can be extremely stressful. The term is used as a comparison to the extremely stressful and chaotic experience of Black Thursday or other black days.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Candles and Hebrews
Bob Kauflin posted on the use of candles in worship here (scroll down to Nov 17). I was somewhat surprised by the fact that some people associate candles with new age practices and that it is a stumbling block for them in worship. I agree with Bob that they candles are not inherently evil and that they can be used to create a contemplative environment as well as point to the light of the gospel and Christ.
Julie’s Educational Links
For those of you who have kids in home, private, or public schools, here is a link you should know about. Julie’s Education Links page provides a high number of web-based programs that reinforce learning in most every academic category. Lately, we have been using a few of the spelling programs early in the week while our older kids are preparing for their weekly spelling exams.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
How Do You Feel About Worship?
Is it a sin to not have feelings of affection toward God when lifting your voice in worship to Him? If an unbeliever witnessed your worship, would it testify to them of your love for God? Read below for John Piper’s quote on the engagement of the heart in worship.
The engagement of the heart in worship is the coming alive of the feelings and emotions and affections of the heart. Where feelings for God are dead, worship is dead. (John Piper, Desiring God, 68)
Your Name on Toast
This guy is raising money for “World Vision” and numerous other charities by allowing you to customize burnt toast to say whatever you want to say and link to whatever you want to link. The web site is here. John Carlson’s “Great Sax” toast is third in line right now. If you want to contribute, you can also have your name (or anything else you want) put on toast.
(HT: Seth Godin)
(HT: Seth Godin)
New Template
For those of you who read my posts direct from this site (as opposed to those of you who use a blog reader) please let me know if you have any problems viewing this site. As stated in my previous post, I am in the midst of a template change over. I am planning to continue adding some new features and tweaking the look throughout the weekend. Thanks for your patience if this causes any inconvenience.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Time for a New Look
Just a quick FYI.... Over the next few days I may be transforming the look of my blog. During this process there may be some things that look a little funny, but I expect the transition to be pretty seamless and quick.
The Light Shines in the Darkness
The Christmas season is almost upon us and the Parkview programming team and Arts Ministry volunteers are working hard to prepare for our celebration services in December. Over the next two weeks the Visual Arts teams will be transforming our stage and you will be seeing promotional posters and invitational handouts showing up at weekend services.
Below are the service descriptions, dates, and times. For those of you who are regular attenders, please remember that on these big attendance weekends, we need to you to shift your attendance to Saturday in order to make room for all of the guests joining us on Sunday morning. In the mean time the ministry leaders, and scores of volunteers, working hard to prepare would benefit greatly from your prayers. Also pray that God would use this season to draw many people to himself!
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Christmas Offers Salvation
December 9-10
December 16-17
December 23-24
Below are the service descriptions, dates, and times. For those of you who are regular attenders, please remember that on these big attendance weekends, we need to you to shift your attendance to Saturday in order to make room for all of the guests joining us on Sunday morning. In the mean time the ministry leaders, and scores of volunteers, working hard to prepare would benefit greatly from your prayers. Also pray that God would use this season to draw many people to himself!
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Christmas Offers Salvation
December 9-10
This weekend our main auditorium will host a celebration with contemporary orchestra and vocal team during our regular service times of 4:30 & 6:00 pm on Saturday and 9:00 and 10:30 am on Sunday. The venue service will host a traditional music celebration with drama at 9:00 and 10:30 am.Christmas Offers Peace
December 16-17
This weekend all services will combine in the main auditorium with Adult Choir, Children’s Choir, and Brass Ensemble and will meet at the normal weekend times of 4:30 & 6:00 pm on Saturday and 9:00 and 10:30 am on Sunday. We will have an open chorus this weekend. Rehearsals will begin Wednesday, November 15th at 6:15 pm in the Atrium.Christmas Offers Security
December 23-24
This weekend we will have three identical Christmas Eve services on Saturday at 4:30 pm and Sunday at 9:00 am and 4:30 pm. This schedule will provide maximum flexibility for everyone to celebrate the Christmas weekend whatever your family schedule may be.All of these services will be specifically geared to share the good news of Christ with the friends and family you invite to attend. Please begin praying now of who the Lord may want you to invite! More information will be coming in the near future!
Friday, November 17, 2006
Pastors Who Plagiarize
Blog world was buzzing a few days ago about a big article in the Wall Street Journal about how more and more pastors are buying sermons from pastors such as Ed Young and preaching them from their pulpits. You can read the article here. (thanks for the scoop Dboats)
I agree with bloggers like Tim Challies who thinks pastors who just preach other people’s sermons are not being responsible in their calling. Especially if they use large portions of a message without acknowledging that “so-and-so” pastor wrote the message portion. It is really no different that copying large portions of another persons paper without giving the original author credit.
For those Parkview people out there, you can put your mind at ease. Pastor Jeff teaches original material. Sure, like every pastor, books and commentaries do provide inspiration from time to time but the majority of his time is spent wrestling with the passages from which he preaches. Pastors who don’t take time wrestling with the passage from which they teach don’t often have the verbal conviction that will come when you have truly dug deeply into the Word of God. They are also the type of pastors whose messages all start sounding the same after a few years under their teaching. I thank God we have a pastor who works hard to deliver messages that are passionate, well studied, and original most every week he teaches.
I agree with bloggers like Tim Challies who thinks pastors who just preach other people’s sermons are not being responsible in their calling. Especially if they use large portions of a message without acknowledging that “so-and-so” pastor wrote the message portion. It is really no different that copying large portions of another persons paper without giving the original author credit.
For those Parkview people out there, you can put your mind at ease. Pastor Jeff teaches original material. Sure, like every pastor, books and commentaries do provide inspiration from time to time but the majority of his time is spent wrestling with the passages from which he preaches. Pastors who don’t take time wrestling with the passage from which they teach don’t often have the verbal conviction that will come when you have truly dug deeply into the Word of God. They are also the type of pastors whose messages all start sounding the same after a few years under their teaching. I thank God we have a pastor who works hard to deliver messages that are passionate, well studied, and original most every week he teaches.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
How Good Are Your Aural Skills?
Click here to take a test that sees how tone deaf you are. I have not yet taken it, but am planning to tonight or tomorrow. My musician friends are all scoring pretty well. If you are brave, feel free to post your score as a comment. Here is the description of the test on the site.
While working at the music and neuroimaging lab at Beth Israel/Harvard Medical School in Boston, I developed a quick online way to screen for the tonedeafness. It actually turned out to be a pretty good test to check for overall pitch perception ability. The test is purposefully made very hard, so excellent musicians rarely score above 80% correct. Give it a try!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Elisabeth Elliot Devotional
For almost a year my wife has been enjoying the daily devotional email written specifically for women by Elisabeth Elliot. It is a great resource for women and a quick read. No matter how busy your day is it will be a blessing to you. You can go here to subscribe to the email or link to it through your web browser. If you are not familiar with Elisabeth’s testimony, it is one of the most beautiful and redemptive stories I’ve heard. Here is Elisabeth’s website and a link to the documentary that was made about her life and the lives of the missionary couples who went to South America in the 50’s to share Christ with the tribal people in the Amazon jungle. Elisabeth’s husband along with several other men lost their lives while attempting to share Christ with the Quichua Indians. Elisabeth and her children later went and lived with the tribe who murdered her husband. While working with them she had the privilege of seeing many put their faith in Christ and experienced how the grace of God transformed a brutal tribe into a peaceful community of faith. The documentary is called “Beyond the Gates of Splendor” and is well worth your time.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Kauflin on Musician Summit
A few posts ago you read a comprehensive review of John Carlson's time at the Music Summit in the Seattle, Washington area. One of the session speakers John wrote about, Bob Kauflin posted today on his reflections from his time there. I found his specific reflections interesting so thought I would pass them along.
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This past weekend I had the privilege of joining 3000 or so folks at the Christian Musician Summit – Improving Skill, Inspiring Talent, held at Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Washington, near Seattle. My good friend Pat Sczebel, joined me from Vancouver, BC, where he serves as a pastor in Crossway Community Church.
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This past weekend I had the privilege of joining 3000 or so folks at the Christian Musician Summit – Improving Skill, Inspiring Talent, held at Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Washington, near Seattle. My good friend Pat Sczebel, joined me from Vancouver, BC, where he serves as a pastor in Crossway Community Church.
I marveled again at how diverse the body of Christ is. Ages ranged from 15 to 75, and I talked to people from every kind of denomination, meeting format, church size, and musical preference. Over two days people could attend 9 of 170 seminars that were offered, three main sessions, and two evening concerts.
It was a massive undertaking, but came off exceptionally well, especially considering the fact that the event was organized by two musicians, Matt Kees and Bruce Adolph. One of them (and from their comments, I’d guess Matt) must have a significant administrative gift. I was able to catch up briefly with a number of friends (Paul Baloche and band, Kathryn Scott, Tom Kraeuter, and Steve Merkel), and also met Brenton Brown (humble, gifted, great songwriter), Carl Cartee (guitarist, worship leader, songwriter), Ed Kerr (formerly of Harvest), Rita Baloche, and Chris Tomlin (who has actually heard of Sovereign Grace Ministries, to my surprise).
It was an encouraging conference. The depth in song lyrics is increasing, and those who taught, played, and sang were characterized by humility. How different from the world! This wasn’t a “worship conference” per se, but I think that a majority of folks who attended have something to do with corporate worship in their church. I was privileged to teach four seminars and the last main session.
Here are a few reflections from the conference.
The music wars are far from over.
Of the seminars I led, The Role of Music in Worship was the largest. When I asked how many people had experienced tension in their church over music almost every hand went up. While many churches have wholeheartedly embraced contemporary music in their services, a large number are still making the transition. But changing to a contemporary style may create more problems if we don’t have a biblical understanding of how music functions in worshiping God. Music is a tool to help us deepen the relationships we enjoy through the Gospel with God and each other. It should enable the word of Christ to dwell in us richly in us, express our unity, and enable varied expressions of praise to God (Col. 3:12-17). We’ll continue to battle over music unless we understand its role, and see it as an important but secondary issue in our worship of God.
Worship artists aren’t the only music leadership model for the local church.
God has undoubtedly gifted certain people to write, sing, and play songs to edify the church. Millions of Christians have benefited from their diligence and faithfulness. We should thank God for them and pray that He continues to use them for his glory. However, most of the churches at the conference will never have a leader as gifted as Matt Redman, a band as talented as Paul Baloche’s, or songwriters as skilled as Brenton Brown. Also, contemporary music is only one piece of the music spectrum. It has strengths and weaknesses like all genres. When the only songs we sing were written or arranged in the last ten years, we have effectively cut off the voice of the church for the past three hundred years or more. We can do more to make sure that smaller churches don’t labor under a false idea of what worship music should sound like, and that larger churches model the diverse musical resources available to us for worshiping our Savior.
While we all know that worship is our lives, we still think of it as our music.
It’s hard to shake the idea that we’re “really” worshiping when we sing, or that certain leaders “bring us into God’s presence.” I would love to see more teaching on how the songs we sing can affect and reflect the lives we live for God’s glory. It would also be good to hear more about how the atoning work of Christ is the only means by which we enter the Father’s presence (Heb. 10:19-22).
That being said, the conference was billed as an event to improve skill and inspire talent, and by that standard, it delivered as promised. It was a privilege to be there. Thanks, Matt and Bruce, for your vision to see Christian musicians equipped for the glory of God. May more local churches be inspired to do the same.
Hymn Sweet Hymn
I remember when the 80’s choruses swept the church. I became a Christian as a Jr. High student and remembered attending my new “evangelical” church home and being swept away by the church orchestra blasting away on songs like “Majesty”, “As the Deer”, “He Is Exalted”, “How Majestic is Your Name”, and any other song that was either released by Integrity Music or in the “Song’s for Praise and Worship” collection by Word Publishing Company. In my mind a revolution was being born. The congregation began clapping wildly for rousing choir anthems and hymns became nothing more than a concession to keep too many older folks from leaving the church.
Times seem to be a changin’. How interesting it is that you can go to most any contemporary Christian concert and the emotionally tender or climactic inspirational moment is when that chorus segues right into a refrain from some classic hymn (i.e. Chris Tomlin’s now famous “How Great is Our God” into “How Great Thou Art”). On top of this, the emerging church is blasting the trumpets calling the church to re-embrace the ancient and experiential traditions of the historic church. On top of this, Passion, Indelible Grace, Red Mountain Music, and numerous other artists are trying to popularize hymns for new generations. Before any of you “traditional types” get too excited, it’s worth knowing that these hymns aren’t packaged in nice four-part chorales for organ and SATB choir. As it’s been described to me in the past, the post-modern today is wearing his grandpa’s sweater with an ipod on his belt.
My point of this post is first, to simply highlight an interesting cultural shift and second, to celebrate the change. I am all for practicing diversity in church music and think it is often ridiculous to declare some “new and exciting” revolution in church music. The reality is that there is exciting stuff happening in every style and community and trends are almost impossible to nail down in the “information super highway” world in which we live. To be completely honest, right now my perfect evening of worship would be a cup of coffee, my guitar, and a bunch of old hymn lead sheets in D, E, G, A, or C. My only regret is that my “contemporary upbringing” has left me quite illiterate when it comes to the broad range of hymn melodies and texts. As for a practical spin on this post, I am not sure there is one. All I can say is that I am glad that what I most enjoy musically (and lyrically), just so happens to also be a culturally engaging medium within the church.
Times seem to be a changin’. How interesting it is that you can go to most any contemporary Christian concert and the emotionally tender or climactic inspirational moment is when that chorus segues right into a refrain from some classic hymn (i.e. Chris Tomlin’s now famous “How Great is Our God” into “How Great Thou Art”). On top of this, the emerging church is blasting the trumpets calling the church to re-embrace the ancient and experiential traditions of the historic church. On top of this, Passion, Indelible Grace, Red Mountain Music, and numerous other artists are trying to popularize hymns for new generations. Before any of you “traditional types” get too excited, it’s worth knowing that these hymns aren’t packaged in nice four-part chorales for organ and SATB choir. As it’s been described to me in the past, the post-modern today is wearing his grandpa’s sweater with an ipod on his belt.
My point of this post is first, to simply highlight an interesting cultural shift and second, to celebrate the change. I am all for practicing diversity in church music and think it is often ridiculous to declare some “new and exciting” revolution in church music. The reality is that there is exciting stuff happening in every style and community and trends are almost impossible to nail down in the “information super highway” world in which we live. To be completely honest, right now my perfect evening of worship would be a cup of coffee, my guitar, and a bunch of old hymn lead sheets in D, E, G, A, or C. My only regret is that my “contemporary upbringing” has left me quite illiterate when it comes to the broad range of hymn melodies and texts. As for a practical spin on this post, I am not sure there is one. All I can say is that I am glad that what I most enjoy musically (and lyrically), just so happens to also be a culturally engaging medium within the church.
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