Spiritual Disciplines: Worship
January 8, 2009
Worship is continuously living our lives individually and corporately as living sacrifices to the glory of a person or thing. This connection between glory and worship is clear in places such as Romans 11:36–12:1 (NIV), which says, “To him be the glory forever! Amen. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship”
I’m posting this
November 21, 2008
… because it ROCKS! Chains are broken – lives are healed – eyes are opened – in Jesus.
Happy Friday!
“Listening to Music for God’s Glory”
November 13, 2008
At the Worship Matters blog, Bob Kauflin shares “six handles to help us think more concretely and biblically about the music we listen to.” Here’s the first …
“1. Submission (Prov. 19:20)
If you’re living at home, that means submission to your parents. If you’re an adult, that means submission to those who are spiritually mature and know you best. Listening to music is not a right. It’s a privilege to be earned.”
Worship/performance art
November 10, 2008
A recent presentation from the worship band at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, which will be releasing a DVD to accompany a new album called Closer to the Start:
(HT: Gospel Soundcheck)
CCM: good, bad, or no longer worth talking about?
November 10, 2008
Two months ago, Russ Breimeier at Christianity Today suggested that there might be some weight behind the criticism contemporary Christian music (CCM) has received of late:
“People often tell me that they can spot a Christian song even before the lyrics start. It’s not as much an issue of lyrics or even production quality as it is of artistic or stylistic quality.”
Then David Sessions piled on at the Patrol blog, last month:
“It really is a shame that we missed the memo, because dude, this is totally like what we specialize in. Here’s how I would describe it [CCM's signature sound]: utterly and completely soulless.”
Now, Jared Wilson has expressed his disdain for Sessions’s disdain:
“Anyone else think criticizing CCM has jumped the shark? Find something else to whine about, whiners.”
Review : Mark Galli’s Beyond Smells and Bells: The Wonder and Power of Christian Liturgy
October 31, 2008
By Trevin Wax at Kingdom People:
“Beyond Smells & Bells is a short book that appeals to two kinds of people. For those already in liturgical churches, Galli’s brief book will either explain to you for the first time how the liturgy intends to form you spiritually or it will renew your love for liturgy. For those not in liturgical churches, Galli’s book works as an apologetic for more thoughtful liturgy. Even though a posivite apologetic for liturgy is not his intention, Galli’s work accomplishes this promotion in an indirect way.”
Apple has ‘Worship Market Team’
October 30, 2008
… according to Bruce Reyes-Chow:
“I was invited to Apple’s main headquarters to meet with the newly formed Worship Market Team at Apple. Yes, you heard right, Apple must have read this post of mine and thought, hmmmm . . . . ‘maybe this church thing is alright.’ Or . . . someone at the Presbyterian Center simply talked with our Apple Rep and made the connection. Smart money is on scenario number two.”
(HT: Jake Bouma)
“Top 5 things I miss about 90s worship”
October 29, 2008
A list by Kyle Campos at the Worship.com blog that includes wind instruments and transparencies.
“Hillsong London releases new CD, and I rant about the megachurch (again)”
October 24, 2008
A post by Joanne Brokaw at Gospel Soundcheck:
“Amidst all of the nifty PR bits about Hillsong London that were included in the release (like the fact that the church meets at the Dominion Theater, where the rock opera ‘We Will Rock You’ has run continuously for six years; Gee, aren’t they super cool? I’ll bet that venue lets them put on a top notch show), was a statement that really jumped out at me: ‘Church motto/mission ‘Because We Can,’ is geared towards ending poverty … because we can.’”
Chris Tomlin on music consumerism
October 22, 2008
“It seems like we’re going through songs today, like every three weeks you’ve got to have a new song. That’s that consumer mentality.”
- Tomlin in a recent interview by Gospel Soundcheck’s Joanne Brokaw.
The song-writer and worship leader has a new album out, called Hello Love.
Review: John Tyson’s Assist Me to Proclaim: The Life and Hymns of Charles Wesley
October 16, 2008
By Douglas Brown at Sharper Iron:
“One man … is often overlooked in his involvement as a preacher and traveling evangelist in England during the 1700s. He stands, like the apostle Andrew, in the shadow of his more well-known brother. Many of us sing his hymns on a regular basis, and they are known throughout the churches of our Savior around the world. I speak of Charles Wesley.”
Worship songs, loved and hated
October 15, 2008
Bob Kauflin tells why he likes “My Soul Finds Rest”, by Aaron Keyes and Stuart Townsend.
And British songwriter Graham Kendrick, author of “Shine Jesus Shine,” takes a hit in a new book by parliamentary sketch artist Quentin Letts that lists 50 People Who [Messed]-Up Britain. Douglas LeBlanc at GetReligion discusses Letts’ defamatory work.
A bleak evaluation
October 11, 2008
… of the evangelical church’s ability to redeem culture is posted by dissidens at the Remonstrans blog:
“There was a time when worship and liturgy were the definitive ways man located the meaning of his life and determined his mission in it. It was also the proper way of sharing that meaning with his neighbor. He could commiserate in his sufferings and he could exult in his joys. Try doing that with the degenerates filing into the auditorium for the Contemporary Worship Service. We cannot even share our maudlin religious rites.”
John Wesley, worship leader
October 9, 2008
At the Worship.com blog, some advice on congregational singing from Wesley’s Select Hymns (1761). Number 5:
“Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.”
Read all seven.
Book reviews
October 9, 2008
Thabiti Anyabwile praises Stephen J. Nichols’s Getting the Blues: What Blues Music Teaches Us About Suffering & Salvation at Pure Church:
“As an African-American reader, I found this an encouragingly bold book. Nichols is fast becoming one of my favorite writers for that reason. Let me explain.”
Justification: Understanding the Classic Reformed Doctrine, by J. V. Fesko, is reviewed by Paul Manata at the Triablogue:
“Fesko interacts with both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, showing that: (a) there is no unity to be had between their views and classical protestant ones on the issue of justification without such major concessions that the RC and EO churches would be unrecognizable …”
Why not read a classic? Keith A. Mattson recommends Calvin’s Institutes on the Ligonier Ministries blog:
“John Calvin’s Institutes is, essentially, the first Reformed “systematic theology.” Its influence on the thought of all subsequent Reformed theology is immeasurable.”
And a plug for A Primer on Worship and Reformation: Recovering the High Church Puritan, by Douglas Wilson, appears on Wilson’s own Blog and Mablog:
“A Primer on Worship and Reformation proposes that true change begins, not with a process or an idea, but through faithful worship.”
