Reading for Worship: 5 Books to Fuel Your Faith

Posted on February 4, 2012 by

I’ve read or started reading 5 books in the last month that have fueled my faith and challenged my thinking in good ways. None of these are “worship” books, but they all relate to lifestyle worship.

5 Books to Fuel Your Faith

1. Everyday Prayers by Scotty Smith

Scotty Smith is a well-known pastor in the Nashville area who has influenced many with his gospel-saturated teaching and ministry. The prayers in this book come from a long walk with Jesus that has required soul-searching along with scripture-digging to grapple with life’s challenges and joys. After a month of praying these prayers, I’ve come to depend on this books as a trusted source to reconnect my heart and mind with the hope and truth of the gospel. If you’re looking for ways to help you “preach the gospel to yourself” (per Jerry Bridges), this is a great daily resource.

Fueling your faith: This book demonstrates how one man moves from scripture and real life challenges to an unwavering grasp of the Gospel. I find my faith and belief in the Gospel bolstered each day. God’s words truly are words of life and Scotty helps me seem them.

2. Being George Washington by Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck enjoys his role as provocateur and catalyst in the national media. While I don’t agree with all his conclusions, his fresh unconventional approach challenges my thinking. I found the same to be true of this book on George Washington. He debunks many myths spread in classroom textbooks and gives us a vision of the faith, leadership, vision and weaknesses of our first president. I found myself inspired and using a different standard as I watch the presidential debates happening across the United States. I also find myself challenged with what vision I have for myself and my children.

Fueling your faith: George Washington faced daunting odds and circumstances in his pursuit of establishing the American experiment. I didn’t realize the internal fights he had to fight. His is a story that shows the importance of character that was formed earlier in life–reinforcing to me the need to instill these qualities in my own children. I also see a man who recognized God’s hand in all of history–seeing even the discovery of Benedict Arnold’s treason as a gift from God, saving the Revolution from a crushing defeat.

3. The Tehran Initiative by Joel Rosenberg

Joel Rosenberg is a messianic Jew. As such he has unique perspectives on Israel, End Times prophecies and current events. He also is an incredible storyteller. I find his books mesmerizing and am intrigued by how many of the things he writes are playing out in modern history (NOTE: he writes many of these things prior to them playing out historically). Frankly, my eschatological views are challenged whenever I read his novels. Even if you end up disagreeing with his eschatology (which many do), you’ll find his novels to be page-turners and the story lines to be captivating.

Fueling your faith: There are many who teach vigorously on End Times issues. Some of the attempts to portray these through literature are built on much speculation and a faulty hermaneutic (in my opinion). Rosenberg, however, looks at current events from a thoughtful perspective which helps me read the news differently and pray for the return of Jesus more passionately, while still going about His daily kingdom business.

4. Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan

I mentioned this book in a previous post. K.P. is an Indian pastor, missionary and evangelist. His organization, Gospel for Asia, has started a revolution in how the church thinks about and does global missions. He advocates training and releasing national missionaries to reach their own country as far more cost effective and long-term impacting. They know the culture, which speeds up translation and adaption issues, and can live at the same standard of living, saving tons of missionary dollars. He doesn’t write off the role of Western missionaries, but says we should reevaluate our relationship and form strategic partnerships in our areas of strength. And, of course, he holds no punches when discussing the state of the Western church. This will challenge you, but it’s worth the read.

Fueling your faith: The call to take the gospel to all nations couldn’t be more clear in Scripture, yet the Western Church has distracted itself through all of its ministries, programs and buildings. Very few churches give 10% or more of their annual budget toward global missions and yet struggle little over raising millions for building projects. Yohannan challenges me to not only support church planting here in America, but to partner with his indigenous evangelists as they plant churches throughout the many nations of Asia.

5. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

I make it a habit every year to either read or watch the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein. This year I also decided to re-read The Hobbit, first read to me by my fifth grade teacher (thanks, Mr. Sanders). We’re also reading it aloud to our daughters. Since the movie is coming out next year, I figured it was a good to revisit this classic story. I highly recommend reading it before you see the story through Peter Jackson’s (the director) eyes.

Fueling your faith: Bilbo models for me a blundering faith. He didn’t believe in himself and discredited Gandalf’s belief in him. Nonetheless he joins the quest and finds ways to use his assets (a quick wit and a magic ring) to help his jolly band achieve victory. How often do I overlook the gifts God has granted me and feel they are inadequate?

What books have you read that have fueled your faith? What books are on your current reading list?

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The Role of Music in Global Missions: 10 Reasons Why We Need Musicians to Take the Gospel to the Nations

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

I’m currently reading K.P. Yohannan’s Revolution in World Missions, (get it free here). He has seen phenomenal results throughout Asia in taking the gospel to villages through national missionaries who are literally willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the Gospel–it sounds much like the book of Acts.

Yohanan says some things about American Christianity that are painful to hear, but worth considering. He suggests that we have allowed worldliness and materialism to distract us from our call to take the Gospel to all the world. We spend $74 million on new buildings when that same money could evangelize whole nations or build 7000 churches in Asia.

***As a side note, I remember in college asking a renowned Bible scholar why we were spending millions of dollars creating a new English Bible translation when there are more than 2000 language groups in the world that don’t even have a chapter of the Bible. He didn’t have a satisfactory answer. Now I’m the one who is challenged with why we spend $500,000 on church sound systems when that could support dozens of indigenous missionaries.”

His critique that caught my attention was related to our choirs, orchestras and modern worship bands. He wondered if we worship our worship instead of Christ. Do we really need all this music, he wonders?

If you read this blog, you probably have my reaction: “Of course we need music. The church hired me to do this. And haven’t we had music in churches since the angels sang of Jesus’ birth?” and after more careful thought, “Doesn’t God command us to use music in our worship of him? After all, the psalms are filled with calls to sing, shout, dance and make music to the Lord.”

It would be easy to dismiss Yohanan’s critique as stemming from a missions radical, but I think we would miss what the Spirit might be asking, “Are we worshipping our worship, instead of Christ?”

All this got me thinking about the legitimate role of musicians in global missions. I have many friends who have given their lives to this cause. Here are a few to check out, if you’re interested:

If the call of the Kingdom is to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all Christ’s commandments, do we need music to do this?

I hope this becomes a conversation starter as we all consider how our gifts are used in God’s Kingdom.

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is.
Missions exists because worship doesn’t. . . .
Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal in missions.”
John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad.

 

With John Piper’s famous quote in our ears, let me propose ten reasons why church musicians and worship leaders are needed in global missions:

10. Musicians are typically good students of culture, which is exactly what missionaries need to be.
9. Music and art have universal appeal, and while not all cultures embrace Western styles of music, there is more openness today than ever before. In fact, studies have shown that young people in Japan and Saudi Arabia will spend thousands of dollars to attend concerts of Western music.
8.  Worship leaders who are adept at learning new instruments and styles can quickly build rapport with the local community more quickly than missionaries with other skill sets.
7. Musicians can say things through art and music that missionaries would never be able to get away with. I often tell the story of missionary friends in Central Asia who started an Arts Festival so they could bring Christian artists to share the gospel through their music and art, since these missionaries had be unable to do so after more than a dozen years of relatively unfruitful preaching. The harvest was unprecedented.
6. Too often Western missionaries have unwittingly imported Western forms of music and worship (think African Queen). Informed musicians bring a sensitivity to cultural issues that other missionaries might miss and that will help the church become appropriately indigenous.
5.  Who better to help train future worship leaders than biblically literate, gospel-saturated worship leaders who have a healthy grid for discerning culture?
4. Excellence in one’s craft will gain audiences with kings and queens.  Proverbs 22:29 says, “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.” Musicians and artists have an opportunity through their craft to gain the respect and attention of local and national leaders. I have a missionary friend who became a national musical hero through her ability to sing national folk songs.
3. Missionaries need musicians on their team (and vice versa). I’ve written about this before and the point is worth repeating. The artistic temperament brings a healthy balance to the typical gifts of most pastors and missionaries.
2. In a day where sights and sounds have largely supplanted the spoken and written word, we need the artistic skills of musicians, artists and videographers to help communicate the gospel across cultural barriers (in person and online). In my social media work, I continually find that photos and videos are increasingly the way people take in information. We live in unprecedented times for using the internet for Kingdom purposes and artists can help translate our stories.
1.  Music, art and drama are primary teaching methods in many oral societies. If that is true, then musicianaries become critical to not only evangelism, but also the discipleship of new churches in newly opened fields. Wycliffe Bible Translators has seen the importance of this. I have friends who have participated in their short-term ethnomusicology projects.

This list is by no means exhaustive. It’s meant to be a catalyst for conversation, not the final authority on this conversation. May God prompt all of us to consider how our skills and craft might be used for His kingdom purposes in our local churches, communities AND across the globe on short-term assignments and potentially through relocation.

Your turn…

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Phil’s Top Ten Lists: 10 Reasons Why Every Worship Leader Should Play or Sing Outside His/Her Church

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

This week I’ve been playing in the pit orchestra for CYT Wichita’s production of Cinderella Enchanted next week. My participation has reminded me of some sage advice I received from Wade Williams of Perimeter Church in Atlanta. He encouraged me to regularly play in groups outside the church. Stan Endicott believes most church worship and music directors should earn part of their income through musical endeavors outside the church.

As I seek to gig more in 2012, I think I’m starting to see some of why these brothers advise the way they do.

Here’s 10 reasons to consider why every church music or worship director should sing and/or play in groups outside the church:

10) It will stretch you musically. If you’re in a contemporary church, you may find the music gets old after a while. How many times can you play a 1-4-5 progression? Even classical musicians will find themselves challenged in good ways when they play repertoire from outside the sacred realm. Playing outside the church gives you the chance to spread your musical wings.

9) You’ll be reminded of your role. When you sit under someone else’s direction, you’ll get a chance to review the role of each person in a musical ensemble and the importance of your leadership role–and if you’re an instrumentalist, how that fits into the whole.

8) It gives you fresh perspective on why you’re doing what you do on Sundays. When you play in bars, concert halls or for parties, music is the main deal (or can be). In worship, music serves a greater purpose–underscoring the celebration of God’s goodness and glory.

7) Take time to watch how others lead. When we constantly lead and take little time to be directed, we forget some of the subtleties involved with clear communication and building camraderie among your group members.

6) It will keep you humble. Many times the worship leader is often the chief musician in his church. Playing outside the church helps us realize there are many phenomenal musicians who are more passionate about their music than we are. This has inspired me to take my practice time more seriously. When you’re the best in your setting, you don’t feel pushed to pursue God’s best for you.

5) It keeps us connected with how the rest of the world views music. Playing in a club last weekend, I realized that many view music as a way of escape. I’m also amazed how many people know all the words to ALL these songs we do by people like Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and The Who. Why is that less true in our churches? Hmm…A topic for another day. :)

4) You’ll have a chance to brush shoulders with people you would never meet otherwise. Music breaks down many barriers. I have talked to people in bars and in the theater that I would never see in church. God has used some of those conversations to form some new musical and ministry opportunities.

3) You can focus on improving your craft without feeling guilty. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes feel guilty building in time for practicing my instruments. It doesn’t feel like a spiritual ministry that the church should pay for. Yet, to be good leaders in our church, we must keep our skill sets sharp–lest we fall into mediocrity. Playing in outside venues provides a good excuse and motivation to focus our practice time.

2) You can show off your musical chops appropriately without being accused of being a showboat. I’ve found it’s important for me to have musical outlets where my improvisational skills are expected and desired. Otherwise, I will force them on my congregation and distract their attention from their primary duty of worshipping God.

1) If you take other church musicians with you, you’ll find chances to learn how to be salt and light. I’m playing with a group called Evan LaRue and SoloBone. Several Christians came together to start this band because we want to be salt and light. This becomes obvious through our stage presence and song selection. More than once this has opened the opportunity to start spiritual conversations. 

Your turn:

I’m sure there are more than 10 reasons to play regularly outside the church. What are some of your reasons?

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The Drama of Worship: 5 Ways to Improve Your Gospel Storytelling in Worship

Posted on January 6, 2012 by

Why do our children find themselves bored in our worship services? Is it because we don’t have enough cool videos or tantalizing children’s sermons?

No. It’s because we’ve lost the art of storytelling.

Children love to hear and watch great stories repeatedly–I have dozens of worn out videos to prove it. So, it’s not telling the same story that is the problem. I think it’s how we’re telling the story.

For too many churches, we develop a liturgical formula that works for our community and staff culture and then we focus on creating the right parts (songs, prayers, readings, sermon, etc…) and don’t think about the whole often enough. You know the adage, “missing the forest for the tree.”

But we need to re-enter the cycle of Creation-Fall-Redemption every week. We need to be reminded of God’s power displayed at the Exodus and the Cross. We long to know and experience God’s pursuing love that brought us back out of Exile. Though we’re tempted to bow down to our modern governmental structures, we all desperately seek a perfect King–one who rules with perfect justice and yet provides a perfect substitute out of his mercy.

Why don’t we retell the story of the Gospel well in our worship services? It takes time, effort and creativity. It also requires us to learn from our more liturgically minded brothers and sisters.

We don’t have to become Anglican, Catholic or Lutheran to appreciate the richness of the well-told story of redemptive history in worship. Soren Kierkegaard called worship the “greatest drama on the stage of eternity.” We’re not talking about the use of drama in worship, but seeing worship as the grand drama that it is.

Francis Schaeffer used to say that redemption should set our creative imaginations aflame. I’d say, the worship event should capture the imagination of the best musical, artistic and poetic talent in the world. It’s a shame that the church has shunned many of these voices and has settled for mediocrity in this important arena.

Barry Leisch in his book People in the Presence presents some helpful ways of incorporating this line of thought.

I love how Kirk Whalum has brought together his passion for the gospel for jazz and the Gospel together in 3 album projects called The Gospel According to Jazz. While not a worship service, it models an attempt to create an event that brings together storytelling, excellent music and an understanding of the redemptive story. Hear how he describes it:

5 ways to improve your Gospel storytelling in worship:

1) Stay connected to the Church calendar. For too many evangelical churches, we have ditched the Church calendar and have created our own, often more influenced by Hallmark (Mother’s Day) and Washington (Thanksgiving) then by Scripture (do you know what happens on Epiphany, Christ the King or Pentacost?).

I’m not suggesting you become Anglican, but do learn from these deep-rooted brothers. The current liturgies have been birthed over many centuries, not just a few hours. Most of these liturgies come straight from the Scriptures. I’m not sure why we think our modern words are better than the Bible. All our services need plenty of Bible reading, singing and praying.

2. Learn from the elements of a good story. All the great stories have a hero and a villain, tension and release, conflict and resolution, tragedy and victory. So does the Gospel! So think through how these elements your worship storytelling.

You can do this within the normal service order. I’m not suggesting you rewrite the service structure weekly, but think through how the elements work together to tell the Gospel. For example,

The Call to Worship can remind us of our position before God as loved, adopted, purchased and forgiven.

The Invocation can express our longing to be with God and to receive the blessing of His presence.

The Opening Song(s) calls us to fix our eyes on Jesus and not the tragedies of life in this world or the trivial meanderings of our daily plodding.

A Prayer of Repentance invites us to inspect our lives and see how we fall short of the Law’s demands. It also reminds us of the waging war for our hearts, souls and minds (the Villain).

The Words of Assurance provide us confidence in God’s complete redemption – there is nothing we can do.

Songs of Preparation move us from repentance to faith as we open our hearts, minds and souls to hear God speak.

The act of Offering ourselves becomes more than a way to support the ministry of the church and exists to surrender our whole life to God.

The Sermon becomes not a time for Pastor XYZ to espouse his beliefs on his pet theological topic, but a time to hear God’s heart for His people and the world. Sometimes this is a rebuke and others it could be a loving reminder.

Songs of Response point our eyes and minds up and out. We look up in wonder at the God of the Gospel who longs to be with us. We look out and see a world who needs to hear this story.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yvfso4Q8xg&feature=fvwrel]

The Benediction is God’s “good word” to us as we leave. In one sense we never leave His presence, but when we depart from the gathered church we need His reminder that “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

3. Keep the whole story line in view while you develop a specific scene. I love thematic worship planning, but one of it’s dangers is that it can cause us to dwell on a sub-theme while forgetting the contour of redemptive history. That’s not a problem for one or two weeks, but a steady diet of this creates a Gospel-starved community.

4. Go see a play or musical regularly. And if possible, get involved with producing a musical. This will help you stay connected with the effort involved with telling a great story. We have found Christian Youth Theater to be a great organization toward this end.

5. Study the liturgies of other generations and other cultures. We easily become narrow-minded in our approach to worship. Make it a habit to visit churches of other denominations, cultures and read about other generations and their worship. Instead of defending your practices, see what you can learn from each. It may strengthen your current practices or it may open you to some new directions.

Another helpful resource not as commonly known is Redeemer Presbyterian Church’s manual for worship leaders. They provide thoughtful articles to help you think through all aspects of worship ministry, including the elements and structure of worship.

How do you approach the drama of worship?

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Phil’s Top Ten Lists: 10 Things to Make 2012 Memorable

Posted on December 16, 2011 by

The end of a year always provides a chance for analysis and forecasting. While it’s an arbitrary marker in certain respects, it allows us a chance to evaluate our work and lives.

John Piper recently released his end of year report for Desiring God Ministries. In this 9 minute video, he describes the importance of looking at a year as if Jesus were going to return on December 31st. How would that change the way you look at what you accomplish and how you behave and relate?

As things begin to slow down on 2011, I plan to take time to evaluate this past year. But I’m also beginning to ask hard questions about how to live 2012 as if Jesus were going to give me a performance evaluation on Dec. 31, 2012. Pondering that question, I came up with a top ten list to help me consider my priorities. Perhaps these will stir some thoughts for you.

This book is a good resource for walking through Edwards' Resolutions

Before I start, I’m reminded of Jonathan Edwards’ Resolutions. He wrote these as a young man and tried to read them weekly to keep his mind and heart focused on his calling before God. Perhaps his resolutions and my list will inspire you to write your own resolutions–not New Year’s Resolutions that are inevitably broken, but priorities that will help you honor Christ in your calling.

My Top 10 List for 2012

10. Cultivate and use my skills as a saxophonist and songwriter in the church and community. Knowing that God has instilled talents and passions for music, I endeavor to use these for His glory. I plan to gig regularly and use my musical talents in worship. No holding back!

9.  Sing, laugh and dance every day. In my busy life, I can take things too seriously. I will surround myself with people and resources that will help me laugh and enjoy this journey.

8. Read broadly. C.S. Lewis said that you should read one old book (at least 100 years old) for each new book you read (since the new books have not stood the test of time). If that is too much to bear, he acquiesced to read one old book for every three new books. I’ve also heard that professionals should spend 30% of their reading time outside their primary field(s) of discipline. With these principles in mind, I will seek to to read broadly and deeply.

7. Read through the Bible multiple times. With the assistance of Dr. Grant Horner’s Bible Reading program, I’m already on my way to reading it once this year and hope to make it through at least twice in 2012. This is making the broad reading of Scripture more meaningful and engaging.

6. Emphasize the role of personal worship and family worship. It has become too easy for me to plan public worship services and to neglect my own personal and family worship practices. In 2012 I would like to plan public worship from a deeper well of personal worship. This may include more regularly worshiping under the leadership of other worship leaders. It especially includes preaching the gospel to myself daily through prayer and the books I read.

5.  Prioritize my health through regular exercise and healthy eating. Because I desire to be productive and engaged through how ever many years God gives me, I will exercise at least three times weekly and aim to get my weight to a sustainable level by the end of the year.

4. Purposefully cultivate real life friendships. Since much of my work happens virtually, I will plan to meet for coffee and meals with friends and colleagues multiple times per week. This will also include the pursuit of meaningful conversations as described by Larry Crabb in Soul Talk.

3. Prioritize the discipling of my children. As a father I am the primary mentor for my children. Even though we homeschool, I know there are things I can do enhance their spiritual and biblical education.

2. Court my wife. With teenaged children we have never been so busy. That’s why it’s increasingly critical that we have date nights and coffee dates as well as spontaneous conversations (even when I feel too busy). We will also take regular time away to evaluate our priorities and schedules. In the midst of all this, I will pursue her as my best friend and soulmate.

1. Live on mission. Five years ago I wrote a life mission statement, but I have largely ignored this in the midst of unemployment and major life changes during the last two years. I will prayerfully read this weekly and ask God to show me how He wants to use me now and in the future. A book I will re-read to help me on this journey is The Making of a Leader by Dr. J. Robert Clinton.

A song that helps me think about the purpose of my life is Lifesong by Casting Crowns.

Only by the grace of God and with the assistance of my community can I live up to any of these. I know I will fail to perfectly follow these, but that can be no excuse to shrink back. In fact, it’s tempting to not show these to the world. However, I believe there are others seeking to make changes in 2012. Perhaps this list can inspire yours.

If you’re comfortable doing so, post your list here or at least provide a link to your list.

Posted in Christian Worship, Preparation for Worship, Worship Leadership | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Worship As Story: Crafting Worship Services that Rehearse the Gospel (An Album Review)

Posted on December 13, 2011 by

I love a great story. I especially like seeing a great movie or musical.

Even now I can hear the haunting music as the tension rises only to be released in a moment of ecstatic joy. Characters facing overwhelming challenges only to be rescued by a lover or a friend. Villains chasing their prey. Good defeating evil. Dancers twirling with joy. It’s real life being played out before our eyes and ears.

Many of the great musicals have a story of redemption. For example, Beauty and the Beast paints an amazing picture of how our sin and failures turn us into monsters and only true love can set us free. Les Miserables unveils the struggle between forgiveness and vengeance. The Lion King displays man’s temptation to run from his guilt and the role of community to restore leaders. While none of these are perfect parallels to the Gospel, they cause us to pause and reflect on life’s deeper issues.

I’ve often thought that worship leaders should plan services like a musical. We are rehearsing the greatest story every told or lived, and yet we often treat it like a boring short story – “Here is our God. Here is His Son. We are sinners. We need Jesus. Now we worship Jesus.” (I’m not downplaying the magnitude of this message, but instead critiquing the simplicity of our story telling). Many of our worship services read more like a 1st Grader learning to read Dick and Jane.

What if instead our worship services resembled the dramatic rise and fall of a classic musical? What if our songs and liturgies melded into a story worth telling over and over– one that captures the imaginations of the young and old?

As a sidenote, I think a reason many liturgical churches are seeing a resurgence is because people are looking for churches that treasure the rich retelling of the Gospel in their services. Some of the best literary minds in church history helped to write the liturgies still used by these churches. And there’s a reason why the music of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Ralph Vaughn Williams underscores some of the best hymn lyrics ever written–it’s just that good!

You must understand that I’m a creative writer. I much prefer to write my own liturgies than use one that is one hundred or five hundred years old. But I see merit in leaning on a retelling that has lasted for centuries and millenium. What better script than the one provided by God in scripture?!!

A New Worship Project: The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11 by Sovereign Grace Ministries

That’s why I love what Bob Kauflin and the creative staff at Sovereign Grace Ministries did on their newest worship album: The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11. They sought to craft a service that from start to finish retells the Gospel in song and word. I think they succeeded.

Certainly most churches can’t spend 70 minutes in song each Sunday and Sovereign Grace churches don’t either–at least most of the time. This project was crafted for a worship conference (Worship God ’11). But the concept of retelling the gospel in worship is transferable to all churches.

Bob Kauflin credits Bryan Chapel and his book, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, for helping shape the structure of this service. Chapel presents a wonderful case for how and why our services need to rehearse the Gospel weekly. In my mind, the primary reason is that we are too much like the Israelites–we are quick to forget God’s mercies and deliverance–think of Israel shortly after the Exodus–and we need daily and weekly reminders of God’s grace expressed through Christ.

Some things I love about The Gathering:

The Gathering is a phenomenal worship experience that beautifully follows the flow of the liturgy from Call to Worship to Adoration, Confession, Assurance of Pardon and Thanksgiving. It carries on through prayer, hearing God’s Word, Consecration, Communion, Commission and the Benediction. Each song (and in some cases multiple songs) helps the believer, with heart, mind and body, engage with the Gospel story at a personal and corporate level.

The diverse use of lead vocals was very refreshing. In fact, one of the things I’ve always appreciated about Sovereign Grace Ministries is that they are so Christ-centered that they don’t allow musicians to make a name for themselves at the expense of the church. There are certainly some musicians whose music has gained global recognition–like Bob Kauflin, Mark Altrogge and Steve & Vikki Cook–but that’s a by-product of a church committed to honoring Christ in their worship.

Recording a live event is challenging, but Steve Cook and Bob Kauflin did a masterful job arranging and engineering this project. I felt like I was there with them.

As I’ve come to expect, these songs consistently provided rich lyrics with strong contemporary arrangements. The songs were fresh, rhythmic and diverse in presentation. And one of the things I always appreciate about Sovereign Grace songs–they are immediately singable by the average congregation. You don’t have to be a superstar tenor or a diva to hit the high notes. In fact, they even had a baritone leading on a song–now that’s speaking my love language!

Particularly impressive is that all the musicians were members of Sovereign Grace churches except the bass and drums (which I would argue are most critical to keeping a contemporary ensemble together).

Some things I missed:

Because I wasn’t able to join the conference, I wish the recording made available the verbal transitions that helped shape the story. If I didn’t know the backstory behind the concert, I might just think this is a series of fantastic songs. If nothing else, I hope they make available a video of the live event.

I love contemporary rock bands, but I found myself in this worship experience longing to hear a broader range of instruments and voices. I understand the logistics for a live recording, but it would seem more reflective of the broader church to use horns, strings and even various ethnic instruments.

Songs to Consider

I found that I could probably use almost all the songs on this album, but some that immediately caught my attention are: Come Praise and Glorify, Shine Into Our Night, Generous King, and All I Have is Christ. You can hear samples of all the songs and purchase the album here.

Here is a sample clip of “Generous King.”

NOTE: While I was provided a review copy of this album, I have not been paid to write this review.

I definitely encourage you to check out this album. Before you search for your next great song, allow the whole project to minister to your soul. It’s 70 minutes you’ll be glad you spent before the Lord.

What do you think of this project?

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God With Us: 5 Implications of the Incarnation for Corporate Worship

Posted on December 9, 2011 by

I love singing Advent songs like “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” They help me remember the longing Israel felt as they waited for God’s promised Messiah. Check out the two cool arrangements of these songs I’ve linked above.

Before Christ’s arrival, Israel knew God’s presence through His priests and tabernacle, but they never could touch and commune with God. They could know about God and enjoy fellowship, but not in the same way that Moses and Joshua knew in the tabernacle. A few had the chance to meet God in theophanies (instances where God revealed himself in human form) like Abraham and Jacob. But the everyday Jew could not meet with God like we Christians can today.

In this virtual world created by the internet and mobile phones, I think we’re starting to understand this dynamic. I spend much of my days interacting with people all around the world online, but can occasionally go a couple days without interacting with people other than my family. I find myself longing for that real connection with people “in the flesh.”

That’s what Israel desired and longed for–meeting God in the flesh. (No wonder they were tempted by the idolatry of the nations around them. Idols can be felt and seen, though they fall short on the relational front.) When Jesus arrived there were some who immediately understood the significance (like the wise men who travelled from the east), but there were many others who preferred their virtual relationship with God. You see a virtual relationship can be managed more easily than a real relationships. Much more challenging with a real God.

Real relationships are messy and require participation from both people. Their are expectations expressed and sometimes unmet. Misunderstandings emerge and require work to rectify.

Jesus’ arrival upset the religious leaders because they could no longer control how people thought about God. Their jobs were at stake. Their paradigms and teachings were being undone with a single sermon. One sentence from Jesus tore down their religious facades and exposed the truth that they didn’t know God.

But we live in a day when Jesus is “with us.” That’s what Emmanuel means, “God with us.” Here are some implications for our corporate worship services:

5 Implications for Corporate Worship from Christ’s Incarnation

1. We no longer need an intermediary to tell us about God, God has revealed himself. Now he left the Holy Spirit to dwell in us permanently and be His presence. We don’t need priests and pastors to talk to God for us (though they certainly play a valuable role in teaching us about God and how to know him).

2. Our worship is now eternally and personally significant. Some theologians use terms like immanence and transcendence to demonstrate the difference between God being right here and up there (here is a paper illustrating this). Christ’s incarnation makes both possible. Our worship rightfully reminds us that God is intimately knowable and utterly unapproachable (because of our sin condition).

3. The incarnation allows us to address God directly in worship. While there is a place for songs talking “about” God, our worship now addresses God as “in the house.” He has promised to be with us when we gather in his name and so our worship planning and leadership should demonstrate this reality.

We all know how uncomfortable and awkward it is to walk in on a conversation about us when everyone assumes we aren’t in the room. How much more disingenuous for us to worship God as if He weren’t present? He is magnificently and personally present. But we must ask if that is obvious? Or are we just singing songs, reading prayers and talking about Him?

4. We should expect the unexpected. One of my seminary professors reminds me regularly that you never know what 15 minutes with Jesus will do in a person’s life. Do we really believe that about our worship services? Nancy Beach of Willow Creek Church seems to believe that when writing her book An Hour on Sunday: Creating Moments of Transformation and Wonder. What would happen if Jesus walked into your church this Sunday? Would anything change?

5. We will create new works of art and music

Every artist worth his salt has created a Christmas album at some point. The story fascinates and the music resonates. Just like the Greeks dreamt of the gods marrying mere mortals, we long for real and eternal connection with God. There difference between Christianity and Greek mythology is that Jesus truly did enter human history. And as C.S. Lewis so eloquently stated, we must either call him a raving lunatic or believe that He is who He said He was–the living Son of God. There is no room for calling him a “good teacher.”

It’s very intriguing to me that our natural response to Jesus’ birth is to create songs and works of art. It seems we can’t help ourselves. My kids love to draw pictures when something significant happens and hand it to me joyfully. I think that’s what we do. We’re so overjoyed to be with Jesus that we want to give him something. For many, music is a natural expression of that joy.

Some friends have compiled some new collections of Christmas music that I’ll recommend.

Zac Hicks recorded a fun Irish anti-Christmas carol called In a Byre Near Bethlehem.

Paul Van der Bijl and the Chicago Metro Presbytery Recorded Proclaim the Bridegroom Near. It’s very Americana, but has some great musical diversity.

Bruce Benedict compiled this list of rare Christmas songs.

How does the incarnation influence your worship?

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Phil’s Top Ten Lists: Top 10 Reasons to Celebrate Advent

Posted on December 5, 2011 by

If you grew up outside the church or in a broadly evangelical congregation, there’s a good chance you don’t know what to do with Advent. For years I thought Christmas and Advent were synonymous. Not true. They are inseparable, but they play distinct roles on the church calendar.

To help you rethink your Advent preparations (and to help you laugh a bit), I have developed the top 10 reasons to celebrate advent. Even if you didn’t start celebrating on the 1st day of Advent, I encourage you to start today:
The Top 10 Reasons to Celebrate Advent

10. It makes it seem like Christmas is coming faster. Unlike Israel, who had no idea how long it would be until Jesus arrived, we can count down the days with growing anticipation.
9. It keeps the kids from asking, “How much longer?” You’re answering that question every day. Next question? :)
8. In the midst of an over-commercialized Christmas, a daily Advent celebration helps us remember the real reason we needed Jesus to come in the first place–we are sinners who need a Savior!
7. It gives you a reason to buy those cool purple, pink and white candles to have at home. Come on. All you pyromaniacs know that you want one of those cool lighters and a reason to use it!
6. It immerses your family in the Scriptures that prophesy Jesus’ birth, rescuing you from an over-sentimentalized view of Christmas.
5. It precedes the 12 Days of Christmas. How much better to exchange gifts for 12 days and pass on the spirit of Christmas for almost two weeks, instead of 1 night and 1 day? Oh, and how much better for our souls to ponder the reality of Emmanuel (God with us) for 12 days, instead of 1.
4. It will provide worship leaders more Advent musical resources. Here’s the logic: There are not enough Advent songs available today; most songs get to the Christmas message too quickly (which I’m not complaining about, we need to hear about the Incarnation every day). But songwriters write for a perceived need (be it personal, community or commercial). So, if more churches and families celebrate Advent, more songwriters will write Advent songs and we’ll all be better for it! :)
3. It ensures you plan ahead for the arrival of difficult family members. If you count down the 25 days till Christmas, you can also keep an internal clock for the arrival (and departure) of dreaded “Cousin Vinny” (substitute your own dreaded name as I don’t even have a Cousin Vinny). This also gives you a chance to remind yourself of the Gospel as you prepare to spend anxious moments with “Vinny.”
2. It provides daily opportunity to sing the classic Advent and Christmas carols. There are only 4 Sundays during Advent–not nearly enough time to sing all the wonderful Christmas music available. Daily advent celebrations allow families to develop a broad appreciation for the Advent and Christmas music available around the world and through history.

And the #1 reason why families should celebrate Advent daily (and no, I can’t end this on a funny note, even though I really want to…):

1. Advent gives us a chance to express to Jesus our thankfulness for His first coming and our earnest longing for His second coming. Emmanuel has come to dwell with us. We are all grateful for the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence, But we also echo the Apostle John in Revelation 22:20, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” His return will make all things right!

I recently shared some Advent resources on this post, but my friend Bruce Benedict has also compiled a list of lesser known Advent songs here. Bruce also has another list of great Advent songs you could sing in your devotionals here, I sang Nathan Partain’s arrangement of Come Thou Long Expected Jesus in worship yesterday and found it very helpful for reflecting the earnest plea of those lyrics.

City Life Church in Boston has also produced a great new Advent/Christmas album worth checking out. It’s called simply, “Christmas” by Castle Island Hymns.

And if you’re looking for some lighthearted moments, check out these video clips:

Someone had too much free time to create this:

Finally, here is an unplugged version of Keith & Kristyn Getty’s How Suddenly a Baby Cries.

Why do you celebrate Advent?

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Excellence in Worship: 7 Ways to Overcome the Tension Between Excellence and Performance

Posted on December 2, 2011 by

If you’re a church musician, I’m sure you’ve heard, said or been a victim of one of the following statements:

  • “Worship is not a performance, so stop showing off every Sunday.”
  • “God is more concerned about our hearts in worship, so you don’t need to practice as much for worship as you might for another gig.”
  • “I don’t believe we should practice for worship. We need to let the Holy Spirit lead us.”

I’m reminded of the pastor who told his parishioners that he only wrote the first half of his sermon and he prayed for the Holy Spirit to finish his sermon while he preached. After one of these sermonic experiences, an elderly lady approached him and said, “Sonny, I think I like your sermon writing better than the Holy Spirit’s.” I hope he got the point! :)

Before you write this off as ludicrous, please know that I have heard variations on all the above statements. In fact, my wife was even recently approached by a well-intentioned homeschool mom who said, “I know you and Phil care about bringing excellence to this performance, but we just want our kids to have a positive experience. Don’t stress them out.” Our hearts sank.

Last year I was looking for a worship job and I was told by several churches that I was “too good” or they couldn’t afford someone as good as me. Really? I thought I was leading worship for Almighty God, the King of the Universe, who is accustomed to holiness and accepts our best as a sacrifice of praise. I honestly don’t understand the movement I see in many churches to hire untrained musicians to lead worship. I wonder if it’s a reaction against this performance debate?

The Way of Escape

Ultimately I do agree that the way through this issue comes from the heart. For the artist, worship can become idolatry when we pursue excellence for its own sake. For the worshiper, excellence becomes idolatry when we start evaluating the artistry instead of allowing excellent music to lead us to ponder the excellencies of God’s greatness.

The story of Matt Redman’s song The Heart of Worship comes to mind in this context. His fellowship had become guilty of becoming worship connoisseurs. The pastor saw the trend and decided to cancel planned worship services so the Lord could teach them the meaning of true worship. Redman’s song came out of this season and illustrates the importance of our heart in worship. I believe this season profoundly shaped Matt’s worship writing in content and skill. He didn’t stop growing in excellence, but instead kept his heart focused on Jesus.

He and the pastor discuss the story here:

7 Ways to Overcome the Tension Between Excellence and Performance

1. Remember God is thrice holy - The angels continually sing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.” If God is absolutely perfect in his character and actions and has said “be holy as I am holy,” then wouldn’t it make sense that he would want us to bring our best?

2. Obey God’s call to be skillful in our worship. Psalm 33:3 says, “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.” Proverbs 22:29 says, “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” While these verses don’t provide the last word on excellence, it’s obvious that God wants us to pursue excellence–especially in our worship.

3. Don’t assume excellence has a universal measure. The parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30, Luke 19:12-28) demonstrates that Jesus doesn’t see all Christians as equally gifted. We can all handle differing amounts of responsibility and treasure. What is universally true, is that we will all be held to account for what we’ve done with our talents. I played last night with a flautist in our fellowship who has been hiding her talent from me (and the congregation) for 15 months. I’m glad she brought it out for all of our sake, even if she’s not ready to go play with symphony any time soon.

4. Talent is overrated. This may sound like a refutation of the last point, but I offer an entirely different perspective. Geoff Colvin, in his book Talent is Overrated, studied many of the highly skilled and highly successful people in our world (modern and historical). He found that a vast majority of these shared a common attribute–and it wasn’t talent, but hard work. But not just mindless hard work; it’s what he calls Deliberate Practice, which shares these 5 features:

  1. Designed specifically to improve performance – in other words, it focuses on key elements of excellent performance.
  2. Repeated a lot – repeat it until it becomes second nature (a.k.a. muscle memory).
  3. Feedback is continuously available (through mentors, teachers, peers)–and I might add that feedback is intentionally sought.
  4. Highly demanding mentally – If you’re not challenging your mind, you will become bored and give up or slack off.
  5. Not much fun – this hard work is necessary and rarely brings great joy–except in the results.

Wayman Tisdale’s story provides an inspiring case study. After a successful  NBA career, for which I’m sure he’ll enter the NBA Hall of Fame, he decided to become a professional jazz bassist. With the same focused determination that caused him to stand out as a basketball player, he attacked learning the bass. He quickly distinguished himself as a legitimate bass player, earning the attention of his jazz heroes. Wayman wasn’t necessarily more talented than other bassists. He just knew how to focus his desire through a deliberate practice regimen. 

You may know that Wayman Tisdale died at the age of 44 in 2009. This tribute from his funeral talks of the legacy he left. I was particularly impressed with the comment that Tisdale accomplished more in 44 years than most people do in 80 plus years. That can be attributed to his ability to deliberately develop a skill and use it for the glory of God:

5. Avoid the temptation to find short cuts. A friend of mine recently posted this picture on Facebook. While I’m not sure about the math (I’m more accustomed to the 80/20 rule), the point deserves attention. I’ve asked my college music professor friends about this, and they all agree. They can predict with a high degree of accuracy which students will succeed as musicians based on how well they practice.

In his book, This is Your Brain on Music, Daniel Levitin provides scientific evidence for the rule of 10,000. He contends that it takes 10,000 hours to master a musical instrument. If that is true, at 15 minutes a day, it would take you nearly 100 years to master an instrument. Even at an hour a day, it would take 27 years. At four hours a day, it would take 6 years. This fits with what I heard Bob Kauflin tell a young worship leader. The student had asked him how he could learn to play piano like him. Bob replied simply, “It’s easy. Just go to college, become a piano major and practice 5 hours a day.” I doubt Bob knew the rule of 10,000, but a four year degree at 5 hours a day would start to approach 10,000 hours, especially when added to the assumed number of hours put in prior to music school.

6. Pay attention to your heart. After all this focus on your skill, I would remiss if I didn’t address the heart issues. I constantly have to repent when I play saxophone in worship. While I would say that sax is my voice in worship, I also know the strong temptation to draw attention to myself through my playing. As a jazz musician, I’ve been trained to play for applause after my solos. In worship I constantly have to make sure I’m playing for the Lord and not the applause of man. This is a battle that can only be fought on my knees and in community.

7. Define excellence in your community. Finally, your church needs to spend time thinking through what it means to “bring your best” to God. What looks like authentic worship in one community may smack of “performance” in another. Some of that is purely cultural.

I found that the high level of virtuosity expected in New York City or Chicago isn’t necessarily what people are looking for as I lead in Wichita or rural Georgia. That doesn’t excuse laziness or sloppiness, but it does show a different value system for our current community. Make sure to spend time prayerfully understanding this for your community.

It’s your turn. How have you wrestled with this tension?

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Keeping Worship Fresh: Insights from Worship Director, David Hampton

Posted on November 29, 2011 by

How do you keep your worship services fresh after 5, 10 or 15 years in the same church? What do you think about when you lead a congregation filled with world class musicians?

I was wondering some of these questions and so I reached out to my friend, David Hampton, to get his insights on these questions and several more.

David Hampton has been the worship director for Christ Community Church in Franklin, TN for over 16 years. He has worked with Founding Pastor Scotty Smith that entire time.

I’ve recorded this interview as two short podcasts. You can hear by clicking on the links.

Part 1 – View this portion of the video:

0:01 –  Connecting the dots between life and worship. David blogs weekly to help people prepare for worship. He gets real about his own life. See David’s blog here. It’s called a Rock in My Shoes o

3:37 –  Planning for worship as a community. Pastor, elder, worship director and other staff (admin, a/v, etc…). Pastor defines what he wants to have people leave knowing. Since the bulk of their singing happens after the sermon, its important to be able to respond well to the sermon.

6:12 –  Worship planning from start to finish. Avoiding disposable elements of worship.

Part II – Hear the 2nd half of the interview here

0:01 –  Leading worship that engages non-artists.

3:50 – Some books that have helped in his spiritual journey. David finds reading outside of the tight realm of worship helps him in his cultural exegesis.

The books mentioned by David:

Anne LaMott’s Bird by Bird
Nicholas Wolterstorff - Lament for a Son
Benyamin Cohen - My Jesus Year
Daniel Pink - A Whole New Mind - Cultural writer

Two new songs mentioned by David are:

What thoughts do you have from these lessons?

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