Worship Matters

Back in 2005 we produced an album called Worship God Live, a live album that featured Pat Sczebel and me each leading six songs. Pat serves as one of the pastors at Crossway Community Church, in Surrey, British Columbia. He’s been a dear friend for years.
Pat inspires me in many ways. He’s one of the most [...]

Yesterday I posted a song I sang at the NEXT conference for those with disabilities.
A week or so before the conference began, I had a growing sense that there would be people at the conference who would be encouraged by attending, but would be battling the effects of sexual sin - either condemnation for sin [...]

The 16th chapter of my book, Worship Matters, is called “To Cherish God’s Presence.” I talk about how one of the effects of biblical corporate worship is a greater pursuit of God’s active presence. I wrote:

For many years I’ve sung spontaneous songs during corporate worship that I believe are a form of prophecy. They’re similar [...]

Every time I lead the singing at a conference it’s a learning experience. This year’s NEXT conference was no different. In this post I want to share some of the thinking behind the songs we sang.
NEXT is a conference geared towards younger singles and married couples, so the majority of people who attend are probably [...]

Got back yesterday from NEXT 2010. It was three and a half days of singing, preaching, and hanging out with about 2500 others who wanted to dig deeper into God and his Word. A powerful time. All the main session messages are available for download from the NEXT website. If you couldn’t make the conference, [...]

Thanks for the encouraging comments many of you left on my last post. I love to do what I can to support bands that are committed to theologically solid, gospel-centered modern worship songs. Sounds like a lot of you feel the same way.
To pick the winners of the free album download I used a random number [...]

I have the joy of leading the singing at Next this coming weekend in Baltimore, MD.
I’ll be leading with three bands - The Na Band, Zelos, and Generation Letter. The first two bands have appeared at Next before, but this will be the first time for Generation Letter.
All the members of Generation Letter - John, [...]

I was going to do this at noon but was in the middle of teaching a seminar on parenting 19-22 year olds…
We had some great entries for this contest and I wish I could give away a free NEXT registration to everyone who participated. THANKS for being so enthusiastic about the conference!
But the three individuals [...]

At the end of the month, I’ll have the joy of leading the music at NEXT in Baltimore, MD, along with three bands: the NA Band, Zelos, and Generation Letter. Last year we recorded the music and produced an album that you can download for 5 bucks.
NEXT is a conference designed for college students, young [...]

This past May I had the joy of leading the singing at the Next conference in Baltimore, MD, along with three different bands. One of them was Zelos, led by Judah Groveman. We introduced one of Judah’s songs, By This We Know Love. It’s a simple ballad that communicates the profound truth of 1 John [...]

The Next 2009 conference took place in Baltimore, Maryland May 30-June 2. Over 2500 people gathered to worship Jesus Christ in song, to study his Word, and to rediscover who he is and what he has done. I had the privilege of leading the songs along with three different bands: the Na Band, Reilly, and [...]

Next was simply amazing. Teaching from Josh Harris, Kevin DeYoung (a new favorite speaker), D.A. Carson, C.J. Mahaney, and Sinclair Ferguson. All the messages are available for download at the Next website. Do yourself a favor and download them all — now. Listen to them soon. I guarantee your passion for the glory of Christ [...]

I’m in the middle of preparing for the Next conference, that starts this Saturday, May 23, and ends on Tuesday, May 26. Over 2500 mostly single men and women will be gathering in Baltimore to hear D.A. Carson, C.J. Mahaney, Josh Harris, Kevin DeYoung, and Sinclair Ferguson expound on the glory of Jesus Christ.
Next was [...]

Last week I posted a download and stream of Nail My Glory, one of the live songs from the New Attitude conference in Louisville, KY. I have three more for you today.
Ransomed
The first is the song Ransomed, written by my son Jordan, with original words by John Kent (1827). A number of people commented [...]

On Sunday night and Monday morning at the New Attitude conference we added 17 string players to the band. Pretty amazing. None of it would have been possible apart from the gifts and labors of Judah Groveman, a cellist/guitarist/songwriter in our church who spent many hours arranging the parts. He did a brilliant job.
They string [...]