In the latest issue of Christianity Today, Chuck Colson has an article entitled “Soothing Ourselves to Death.” He begins with this paragraph:
When church music directors lead congregations in singing contemporary Christian music, I often listen stoically with teeth clenched. But one Sunday morning, I cracked. We’d been led through endless repetitions of a meaningless ditty called “Draw Me Close to You,” which has zero theological content and could just as easily be sung in any nightclub. When I thought it was finally and mercifully over, the music leader beamed. “Let’s sing that again, shall we?” he asked. “No!” I shouted, loudly enough to send heads all around me spinning while my wife, Patty, cringed.
He goes on to say that much of the music written for the church has …
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After posting this earlier today, I had another thought about training our children to worship God.
"Worshipping God" means different things at different ages. Younger children, who may not know God yet, may still participate enthusiastically in various external forms of worshipping God. However, we want their worship to be from the heart, and not simply a matter of conforming. They need a clear knowledge of who God is and what He has done. That includes His nature, His attributes, and His works, especially our redemption through Christ. As the Holy Spirit enables them, they will become increasingly aware of their sinfulness before God, accept His gracious gift of forgiveness through the Gospel, and be included among those who will forever be growing in their love for and worship of
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This is a topic that is more related to parents than congregational worship leaders, but I thought it was worth addressing. Helen wrote in to ask about recent experiences she’s been having with her children at home. She’s noticed a decreased lack of fervor in her 8 and 9 year old as they meet in the morning to sing God’s praises and read Scripture together. She wrote:
Did you ever go through this with your children? Is this something we should force them to do? We recognize that worship encompasses much more than singing with our voices…are we putting too much emphasis on this part of worship?
The topic of training children to worship God is much broader than I could possibly address here. But here are a few thoughts.
Training
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This question comes from Joe. I appreciated his desire to grow in the often neglected skill of singing.
How can a pastor-to-be improve his voice to be prepared to lead congregational singing if he is called to a small church where he is the sole staff member?
I took the liberty of asking some of the vocally gifted folks in Sovereign Grace churches how they would answer this question, and here are some of their responses, starting with those that require the least time.
1. Sing at home, taking the words out of the song and just singing on
AH or OH to have the voice open up and get comfortable. Later on, add
the words.
2. Practice singing the Psalms in your daily devotion to the Lord.
Keeping it simple and singing more often can help
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Mike left this comment/question on a recent post:
Why are compliments so difficult?…Yesterday after our morning service a lady stopped to tell me "how great I am” and what she loved about the way I lead the worship service, which was that I projected “a sincere love for God in what I do." While certainly I hopefully project a sincere and true love for God in what I do, how do you receive a compliment such as this?… How do you deflect praise and still be cordial?
I imagine that anyone reading this post can identify with Mike’s question. Why are compliments so difficult? Most of us, unless we’re blatantly arrogant, feel embarrassed when someone encourages us. There could be a number of reasons. Maybe they’re highlighting something you’re not sure
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Richard wrote in to ask, “How do you understand the regulative principle of Worship, and do you agree with and practice it at your church?”
Some of you right now are thinking, “What in the world IS the regulative principle?”
The regulative principle is one of a number of ways used to describe how God’s Word governs our corporate worship. It is sometimes simplified to “Only what God has commanded in Scripture is acceptable in public worship.” It distinguishes between “elements” of public worship, which don’t change, and “circumstances,” which do. In contrast, the normative principle states that, “Whatever Scripture doesn’t forbid is allowed.” This is typically practiced by Anglicans, Lutherans, and Methodists.
The regulative principle finds its basis in the Westminster Confession of Faith, Section 21.1 which reads:
“But the acceptable …
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JP wrote in to ask, “I enjoyed your blog on ‘What Christmas Songs Do You Use?’ With April fast approaching, could you please post a similar list for Easter?”
I polled some of the other guys who serve in some of the Sovereign Grace churches, and this is a tentative list. I’ve left off some of the more obvious ones like “Christ the Lord is Ris’n Today.” I’ve included songs that focus exclusively on the resurrection, as well as those that reference it at some point.
Crown Him with Many Crowns
Including the verse:
Crown Him the Lord of life who triumphed o’er the grave
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save
His glories now we sing who died and rose on high
Who died eternal live to bring and lives that …
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A while ago, Richard wrote in to ask:
“Do you think there is an advantage one way or the other for a congregation to sing from a hymnal and songbook/sheet (so that they are all looking down), or singing from the words on a large screen in the front of the room (where they are all looking up and facing the same direction)?”
First, I think that people can sing from hymnals and still be “facing the same direction,” and that you can sing from a hymnal and still be looking up. However, I’m not making a case for using hymnals. Or not using them. Actually, I’m surprised at how strongly people defend one position or the other in dealing with this issue. There are good reasons for doing both, and God …
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(I promised yesterday that I would start unpacking the definition of a worship leader today. But I forgot that this is Q&A Friday. I really will get to it next Tuesday.)
Forrest is at a church currently without a pastor, and sent in this question:
“We have typically used the worship service time as a means of giving out information about upcoming events. However, we are also trying to be more conscious about planning worship services that focus on God’s revelation of Himself and His works and our response to that revelation. We are having a lot of tension between worship planners and ministry leaders who want to give announcements. Do you have any insight or resources that might help?”
In my experience, dry, dull, long, and uninspiring announcements …
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Lindele wrote in to ask, “How do you go about teaching a new song to a congregation?”
To set the context, we’re a church that uses a central screen for lyric projection. The thoughts I’m going to share may not apply directly to your situation, but I trust you’ll find something helpful here.
We’ve taught new songs in a variety of ways over the years. We sometimes look for a place in the meeting, such as communion, to present the song as a meditation that the congregation first listens to, then joins in on. Some churches use the offering or time before the meeting as an opportunity to present a new song they sing congregationally the following week.
If the song is more uptempo, I’ll typically say something beforehand that helps people …
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