Directions from Wesley

John Wesley said this...

Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

Worship Thoughts Part 1

I've started reading another book on worship. This one entitled Unceasing Worship by Harold Best has already sparked some thoughts in my mind. I plan to present a multiple part installment on some of the thoughts.
First thoughts...

Best defines worship as this...

Worship is the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do and all that I can ever become in light of a chosen or choosing God.


Everyone worships at all times. The question is - what are you worshiping?

more soon

Love Lustres at Calvary

here's a Puritan Prayer that blessed my soul the last few days.

I challenge you to read it outloud

My Father,
Enlarge my heart , warm my affections, open my lips,
supply words that proclaim 'Love lustres at Calvary.'

There grace removes my burdens and heaps them on thy Son,
made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me;
There the sword of thy justice smote the man, thy fellow;
There thy infinite attributes were magnified, and infinite atonement was made;
There infinite punishment was due, and infinite punishment was endured.

Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
cast off that I might be brought in,
trodden down as an enemy, that I might be welcomed as a friend,
surrendered to hell's worst, that I might attain heaven's best,
stripped that I might be clothed,
wounded that I might be healed,
athirst that I might drink,
tormented that I might be comforted,
made a shame that I might inherit glory,
entered darkness that I might have eternal light.

My Saviour wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes,
groaned that I might have endless song,
endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
bore a thorned crown that I might have a glory-diadem,
bowed his head that I might uplift mine,
experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,
closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,
expired that I might live forever.

O Father, who spared not thine own Son that thou mightest spare me,
All this transfer thy love designed and accomplished;
Help me to adore thee by lips and life.

Why Hymns?

this from red mountain church

This question seems to come up a lot, so I will try to give a brief but thorough answer. First, it is certainly not because we are against any other type of music. Clearly there is a large body of music in the church today, and strong arguments can undoubtedly be made as to the validity of various types and styles of music and texts. At Red Mountain, it is simply that we are overwhelmingly excited about the way hymns have affected our people. We are drawn to hymns because of the impact they have had on our church. Second, I often hear discussion about worship styles being “contemporary”, “traditional”, or “blended.” I believe that I accurately represent my peers when I say that these terms seem vague and poorly defined. For example, many songs considered “contemporary” were written more than 25 years ago. Many of us at Red Mountain feel like we’ve found a perfect blend: traditional text with truly contemporary music. It’s important to add that when we play songs that already have beautiful and familiar melodies, we rarely change them, and we enjoy the original tunes. Examples of this would be songs such as “Come Thou Fount” and “Amazing Grace.” However, many of the hymns we sing do not have familiar music, so we’ve reworked them and, in a sense, re-introduced them to the church. Third, hymns connect us with our past. It is wonderful to think of all the people who have gone before us who have sung these songs. Singing hymns promotes the idea that a Christian is part of a historic family of believers, and they remind us that God’s gospel transcends time and place. Fourth, hymns ring true in a way that many modern songs simply do not. At times, it seems our ancestors had a stronger command of the language than we do. Their words drip with truth and paint pictures of the kingdom that make believers long for heaven. I cannot begin to describe what reading through these old hymnals has done to encourage the spirits of the musicians that play here. We find ourselves continually able to rest in the truth of these great lyrics, always with a sense that we are part of something much bigger than us or our little church. We are excited about this time in the church, and we are thrilled about this music.

Brian T. Murphy
Red Mountain Music

Worship Styles

A great reminder from Packer

I was just flipping through the latest issue of Modern Reformation and enjoyed reading Shane Rosenthal's "An Interview with J. I. Packer: The State of Evangelicalism" (July/August 2008, pp. 40-42). (Unfortunately, online access to the complete article requires a subscription.) The final Q & A is on worship styles:

Shane Rosenthal: What do you think about a niche marketing approach that has by virtue of the different worship styles--teen pop, alternative, and adult boomer--created generational segregation?

J. I. Packer: We have separated the ages, very much to the loss of each age. In the New Testament, the Christian church is an all-age community, and in real life the experience of the family to look no further should convince us that the interaction of the ages is enriching. The principle is that generations should be mixed up in the church for the glory of God. That doesn't mean we shouldn't disciple groups of people of the same age or the same sex separately from time to time. That's a good thing to do. But for the most part, the right thing is the mixed community in which everybody is making the effort to understand and empathize with all the other people in the other age groups. Make the effort is the key phrase here. Older people tend not to make the effort to understand younger people, and younger people are actually encouraged not to make the effort to understand older people. That's a loss of a crucial Christian value in my judgment. If worship styles are so fixed that what's being offered fits the expectations, the hopes, even the prejudices, of any one of these groups as opposed to the others, I don't believe the worship style glorifies God, and some change, some reformation, some adjustment, and some enlargement of spiritual vision is really called for.

Fear

This morning i was listening to a message from the Psalms series that Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland has been in. The text was Psalm 56 - one of my favorites. It got me thinking of just how crippled by fear and worry (fear in disguise) i can tend to be.

Psalm 56
1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
3When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
4In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?

5 All day long they injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk;
they watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

8 You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the LORD, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.

Here's an excerpt from Josh's sermon
"Do you see how fear can keep us from the good that God has called us to? Do you see how it can keep us from doing the things that will bring glory to His name?
See so often when we think about fear, we make the issue ourselves. I need more self-confidence. I need to get over my fear so i can show everyone how great I am!
No, as a Christian we have a totally different motivation. We don't need more self-confidence, we need more God-confidence! We need more God-esteem!
And as we get that, as we trust in Him, we will step out in faith and do things that we could never do on our own. And yet as we do them, God will be glorified because people will see that a mighty God uses weak vessels like us.
And so when you think about fear, don't think about the visions and dreams its keeping you from, no, think about how fear is hindering God's purposes in your life and going forward."
- Josh Harris

Fellowship And Evangelism

"The only difference between fellowship and evangelism is the audience, but both are about the gospel"

End of the Semester

So the end of the semester has come and gone and i have an observation that seems to occur at least for me toward the end of every semester. it goes a little something like this

you've been up late for days and are really behind on even a college student's definition of decent sleep. there's still another 10 pages of papers to be written and 300 of reading to do on top of extension, church and prayer meetings. The spring concert is coming up and so there's not only the stress from that, but also the extra rehearsals and such. Thankfully your recital was last week and so even though you're desiring to practice more than ever due to the high of a great performance combined with the new music you have to dig into for next year, you simply don't have the time. The girlfriend is as wonderful and lovely as ever, but its hard to find the time that either of you would desire to spend so whether you consciously acknowledge it or not, you guys are on a psuedo-holding pattern until after ________ is done. you've pushed everything out of your brain for the moment so that the only thing on your mind right now is getting through this lunch line to sit and enjoy a few minutes of life as it seems to be passing you by.

Its at a time like this that weirdest thing happens. you look up and see someone, who just by observation you determine must be a student, but you could swear you've never seen them again. you find yourself staring at them for a few moments at a time, trying desperately to place them - but you have not seen this person before. you lean over to the nearest friend and point them out and receive one of two responses. this first is complete agreement of the non-recognition. it is a rare response, but still viable. the second and more common response is shock and disbelief as your friend pummels your character by telling you who that person is, how many classes you've shared and that in fact he is in your year. embarrassing! i've never been so impugned before. 

and yet it happens a couple times every semester, no matter where i am. its strange.

does anyone else have this happen?

Broad is the Gate

The average church is filled with people who live on Broad Street. I know the lay of the land, so let me give you directions out of it.

When I'm not living for Jesus daily and show up at church after squeezing out life on my own  terms all week, I'm needy when i walk through the doors. I need the greeter to make me feel welcome. I need my friend to sit by me. I need the soloist to sing my favorite song. I need the pastor to be engaging. I need the small group leader to love on me and do cartwheels when I enter. I need the small group care leader to call me when I'm sick.

I am so needy because I'm not complete when I get there, and when I'm not being completed by my walk with Jesus, I unwittingly demand completeness from people. I raise the bar of expectations, and people don't meet me needs because it is impossible to do so.

Then i face a Catch-22. When I'm not walking with Jesus during the week and then come to church I'm reminded of just how wide the chasm has grown. Why sing when I'm so far away from God that He couldn't possibly hear me? Why worship when nothing comes out of a heart full of...nothing?

This scenario usually produces one of two results: I experience godly sorrow that generates repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10), or i callus over and turn my attention elsewhere. I find items to read in the weekly bulletin. I notice what others are wearing. I think about the afternoon's football matchups. I arrange lunch preparations in my head. Sound familiar? Have you ever done that?

Have you ever pursued those little escape moments to remove yourself, as much as possible, from the thought that something is not right in your life? Sometimes our little escapes even include dwelling upon what's wrong in somebody else's life - what's wrong with the guy three rows back who everybody knows is an alcoholic, or what's wrong with the pastor's presentation, or what's wrong with the day's music selection. It takes half of the Sunday service to get our minds and spirits engaged, and by then the worship is over. We pantomimed another week.

Can't you just see the screen with the words to the worship songs? They have such grandiose statements: "You are the Lord of my life"..."You are all I need"..."You are my everything." Such terrific claims!

I am left wondering whether we even hear what we're saying when we repeat such lyrics. I confess that I have been in the middle of worship, paused, looked at the words on the screen that I had been merely reciting, and thought, "Wow, I haven't lived like that at all this week."

It all stems from not walking day by day and moment by moment with Jesus.

- Mark Hall

Worship Leader

This gets me fired up - i love it.

A faithful worship leader magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit by skillfully combining God's Word with music, thereby motivating the gathered church to proclaim the gospel, to cherish God's presence, and to live for God's glory.

couldn't you replace worship leader with just leader? but i love it. its quickly summing up my passion.