Showing posts with label church music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church music. Show all posts

Monday, February 7, 2022

WHO ARE WE ACCOUNTABLE TO? - A STUDY ON ROMANS 14 PART 7 OF 11

Rock Island State Park, Tennessee

Yesterday, I focused on Romans 14:4, and pointed out that other believers are accountable to God, not us, so we're not to act as their judge. Today, the focus is on Romans 14:7-12, and the fact that everybody is accountable to God. Verses 7-9 point out that we don't live for ourselves but to God, because we are God's. The next three verses remind us that we all will appear before God and give account of our lives (see also 1 Corinthians 3:9-17; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Peter 1:17).

How often do we see ourselves as belonging to the Lord? We call Sundays the Lord's Day, but is the focus of the day the three hours in the morning when we assemble together to worship or on the three hours to six hours in the afternoon when the NFL takes over the TV? 

Even with church, do we REALLY see ourselves as the Lord's? Let's look at the music. Some people want a nice contemporary worship time, resembling the music they listen to at home. Others want a more traditional worship that they're more comfortable with. But are we more concerned with the accompaniment or with the words coming out of our mouth and especially if they reflect what's in our mind and heart?

Now, let's move to the sermon. Which of these two thoughts are more frequent while the Pastor is preaching:

  1. I needed to hear that. God needs to work with me on that area so I'm pleasing Him more.
  2. Is (fill in somebody else's name) here this morning? I hope so: he/she really needs to hear this message.

Too often we're focused on the shortcomings of others when we really need to instead turn our eyes inward and realize we are going to give account of ourselves before God. We're too worried about specks in others' eyes to see the planks in our own. 

Do you realize you are here solely for God's glory? Are you aware you will someday stand before Him?


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Sunday, January 9, 2022

A HYMN WRITING APOLOGIST FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF JERUSALEM - A LOOK AT EPHREM THE SYRIAN

 


Jesus commanded His disciples to make disciples of all nations, to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and to be His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the world. Yet we consider Christianity a Western religion, not reaching into Africa and Asia until the modern mission movement. Did the apostles fail to obey and ignored the lands to the East, or is our perception a bit off?

In this series (we're in part 9 of 13), I've been following Bryan Litfin's book Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction. The first edition included ten people from the first 500 years of the church, and the second edition added two more. One of these is Ephrem the Syrian. I had never heard of him before the second edition. My loss.

Litfin mentions that the Christianity that traveled East was more Jewish than the Western form. Some of it was orthodox, some wasn't. Also, in Edessa in Mesopotamia, there were other false teachings. Ephrem recognized that both the Eastern church he was a part of and the Western church were the same faith, serving the same Savior, and fought against the heresies of Ebionism (a Judaizing movement), Arianism (denying that Jesus was God in the flesh), Marcionism, and Manicheism (a form of Gnosticism). Ephrem's theology was so strong, it was praised by church leaders in the West, such as Augustine's contemporary Jerome.

One technique of the false groups like Arianism and Manicheism was to set their hereitical teachings to music. Ephrem decided the best way to fight fire was with fire, so he wrote hymns both to refute error and to proclaim truth. This helped him earn the nickname "the Harp of the Holy Spirit."

A topic for debate today is a woman's role in the church, particularly if women can preach. In Ephrem's day, there was no such debate - the answer was an across-the-board "No." However, Ephrem saw no prohibition on women singing. So he organized women's choirs, so the sisters can sing.

Have there been hymns or other Christian songs that have had an impact on you? Do you see music being used to defend the faith and teach doctrine much this day? If not, should it? (See Colossians 3:16)

 

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Tuesday, November 16, 2021

INTERVIEW WITH LUKE JONES, WORSHIP LEADER AT CASTLETON COMMUNITY CHURCH, INDIANAPOLIS

 

Castleton Community Church

JR: Let's start with the important issues. How did you come to faith in Christ, and when did you get interested in music?

LJ: I came to faith in Christ through going to a summer youth retreat when I was 13. I grew up in a Christian family and knew the gospel from a young age but had not been born again. At the youth retreat, the Holy Spirit convicted me of the way I had been living for myself and showed me that the only path to true life is in Christ alone. It was shortly after that when I began playing guitar. My dad is a musician and so is my brother. I would have them show me things on guitar and I would practice every day after school. I then started helping lead worship for our church youth group and this proved to be a great training ground for me to grow in my abilities and gifts.

JR: Who would you consider influencers in your life both in faith and in music (e.g. author, musicians, family, current and previous pastors)?

LJ: My youth pastor was highly influential in my life. If God had not placed him in my life, I would not be where I am today. He really pursued a relationship with me and discipled me well. My previous pastor at Walnut Grove Chapel, Randy Worland, was another huge influence on my life, particularly with regard to theological matters. He helped me grow in my understanding of God’s sovereignty and a theology/philosophy of worship. Some musical artists that have influenced me are Shane and Shane, Phil Wickham, All Sons and Daughters, Tenth Avenue North, Matt Boswell, Bob Kauflin, and many more.

JR: I know a pastor's week includes sermon prep, visitation, and counseling, as well as other things. What does a worship leader's week look like?

LJ: It’s probably different for every worship leader depending on what their responsibilities include. For me, I am responsible for planning our Sunday morning worship services. I spend a good block of time planning out the songs and different worship elements that go into a Sunday morning service. I lead both the volunteer teams for the worship team and the tech team so this requires a lot of time scheduling and communicating with volunteers. I am over both worship and tech so if any technical issues arise with our audio, video or lighting, that falls on me to figure out. I set the stage each week for the team and make sure I am prepared to lead the team through rehearsal on Thursday nights. I also plan out our prayer and praise nights which happen once a month. These are times for the congregation to gather for prayer and singing. Outside of the music sphere of ministry, I also oversee our Global Outreach, Prayer, Facilities, and IT at the church. So when I’m not doing something worship arts related, there is no shortage of things for me to do : )

JR: What do you consider when selecting songs for worship on Sundays?

LJ: Colossians 3:16 tells us to “Let the message of Christ dwell in us richly, singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs…” The gospel of Jesus dwells in us richly when we sing various types of songs together in the church. So first and foremost, I want to make sure we are singing songs that are full of gospel truth. That does not mean every song needs to have lyrics about the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. But I would hope that at some point during a Sunday, we sing about those things. We need the gospel every day, it is not the starting point of our faith, it is the main point that we need daily! Some other things I think about when selecting songs is singing songs that are more God-centered than man-centered. We want the balance to be singing more about who God is and what He has done rather than what we are going to do for God. Another thing I think about is trying to sing a variety of both hymns and contemporary. We value singing songs from the Church throughout the ages, this communicates that we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves.

JR: In interviews, I often ask how the interviewee is doing in a time when things look like they can be difficult for Christians. But allow me to take a different angle. The coming storm is a motivation for Christians to unify and encourage one another. Yet one of the issues that often causes division in a local church is music. How can the music ministry contribute to building unity in the church?

LJ: Church music can often be divisive in church, this is sad reality. But at the same time, it has the potential to be one of the most unifying things that a congregation does! When we sing together, we are confessing together what we believe to be true. Hearing the congregation’s one voice lifted up, proclaiming the truth of the gospel and professing our love and devotion to God, is something that draws our hearts together as one. No matter what is going on in our lives or in the world around us, we can unite around the core truths we are singing together and find encouragement.

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Sunday, October 24, 2021

SPECIAL MUSIC: AN IRRELEVANT ITEM FROM THE PAST WHERE IT BELONGS? OR AN UNTAPPED MINISTRY? CHURCH MUSIC PART 4 OF 4

 

The Lute Player by Orazio Gentileschi
 

"How is it then, Brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let everything be done for edification."  1 Corinthians 14:26

Let me start by saying that if you read only one of this four part series, PLEASE read this one. Should you take the time for two, I would add Part 3 as well.

In the previous installment of this series, I mentioned Matt Merker's excellent book Corporate Worship: How the Church Gathers as God's People. As you'd expect, it talks about music. Towards the end, he mentions special music and says it doesn't really contribute to corporate worship and building the local body. I strongly disagree with him, though I also completely agree with what he's saying.

Merker points out that special music often ends up being entertainment. He has a point, and I can think of examples from the sublime to the ridiculous. The sublime was a special done a few months ago at the church I attend. The singer did a moving rendition of a song I was loved. Only problem - it was a song I wanted to sing along with! That selection was written to be a praise song, and I'd be surprised if there's a Sunday that a praise team somewhere in this country isn't singing. But I wasn't invited to sing - I was to listen to someone do my praising for me. The ridiculous? I heard of a person who did an instrumental of "Amazing Grace" to the tune of "House Of The Rising Sun."

I agree with the entertainment side of special music. But can special music be used to edify the church? Absolutely. And if Matt Merker were to hear my argument, he might agree with me.

The norm is that the special music is done by a singer. So if you can rival Sandi Patti or Steve Green in vocal prowess, you'll have a place. It also would help with popularity if you do a song everybody's familiar with and enjoy. But what if the special music person doesn't see it as a musical performance but as ministry potential?

One thought I've had for at least a quarter of a century - special music is ministry of the Word, a second sermon that happens to be about four minutes in length which is sung with instrumental accompaniment. 

Allow me to introduce a candidate for special music that's often overlooked. This would be the singer-songwriter. How would this change the dynamic, assuming it could? Simple - the writer writes songs with the intent and purpose to edify the congregation. 

Two suggestions I have to increase the effectiveness, and both require teamwork between the musician and the pastor. One is for the songwriter to find out what the theme of the sermon is. The second is for the pastor to "commission" the songwriter to write a song on a specific subject. In either case, the special music will be a continuation of the theme of the service.

Do I mean to alienate the non-writing singer? Of course not. There may be a song with background tracks that fits the theme of the service, maybe a song based on the Scripture passage that the pastor is teaching on. 

As a song-writer and as a person who has a heart of encouragement, I strongly desire to encourage songwriters, especially those who want to use their songs for teaching and exhortation as Paul suggests in Colossians 3:16.

Yes, I'm sure my idea is revolutionary. How many singer-songwriters would put edifying their local church over getting a recording contract? Would the congregations encourage songwriters to develop their talent and their ministry instead of hearing someone sing a song they're more familiar with? 

Let me close this be a challenge - what can you do to encourage those in your church, whether it be the pastors/ministerial staff, teachers, singers and songwriters and other artists, and those who need an edifying word?

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Sunday, October 17, 2021

WHAT'S THE PURPOSE OF SINGING TOGETHER? - CHURCH MUSIC PART 3 OF 4

Young Martin Luther and carolers sing for Mrs. Cotta in Eisenach by Fernidand Pauwels
 

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and exhorting one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Colossians 3:16

I hope you haven't given up on this series after the first two installments. The first two reflected my thoughts on the issue of music in the church, and you may now know my preferences. The next two parts, however, will deal with items I feel strong about.

Let me ask a question. When we're singing together in church, who's our audience? Who are we singing to?

No brainer, right? Obviously we're singing to God, aren't we? 

Let me answer with some lyrics from hymns we may be familiar with -

  • Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.
  • What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.
  • Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross, lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss.
  • Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.
  • Jesus calls us o'er the tumult of our life's wild restless sea; day by day His sweet voice soundeth, saying Christian, follow me.

I gave you five songs, including some of the best known hymns. How many of these are being sung TO God?

Yes, these are sung to the glory of God. But should we be looking up and singing these songs to our Lord? 

Or should we be looking around and singing these songs to each other, and realize we need them sung to us?

Two books greatly influenced me on this subject. The first I read was

The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship by Thabiti Anyabwile, where he made the excellent suggestion of singing to one another. And the hymns I mentioned are all ideal to sing to each other.

More recently (like last month), I read another excellent book on the subject of corporate worship, with the unexpected title

How the Church Gathers as God's People by Matt Merker. He does an excellent job of pointing out how we minister to each other in corporate worship. There may be a man in church who needs to be reminded that we need to Trust and Obey, or a lady  needing to be encouraged about the Friend We Have In Jesus, or a student facing challenges to their faith who needs to Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus, or a seeker who needs to hear about God's Amazing Grace.

Let me go back to my previous blogs in the series. The first touched on the so-called worship wars, where we debate on the style of the singing. The second looked at the instruments used. Are these important topics? Would they be as divisive if we looked at our church and realized that the edification of our fellow worshipers was the top priority? 

But keep in mind that it is congregational singing. I've visited churches and find the band (usually a band in these situations) singing a song I've never heard before, often with a catchy instrumental arrangement, maybe an upbeat tune I can clap along to. Often, they're nice enough to have the lyrics so I can follow along. But is this really involving the congregation?

You'll notice I started this blog with one of my favorite verses, Colossians 3:16. Like Ephesians 5:18, it mentions psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Both verses state we're to be speaking to one another with this music. Colossians adds two specific functions of the speaking - teaching and exhorting. 

I'm starting to get warmed up, but I'm going to wind this blog down. I have a lot to mention next week.

But until then, have you ever sang to encourage another believer? Have you ever been encouraged by the singing of a fellow worshiper or the congregation? 

Also, can you identify Martin Luther in the above painting? There are two that I could picture being the Reformer.



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Sunday, October 10, 2021

IS THERE A HEAVENLY MUSICAL ARRANGEMENT FOR CHURCHES? CHURCH MUSIC PART 2 OF 4

The Concert by Gerard van Honthorst

Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with the clashing cymbals! Psalm 150:3-5

Did you know I absolutely love classical music? Especially when there is a full orchestra. I'll never forgot being blown away hearing a college orchestra start off with the pounding timpanis on Brahms' 1st symphony.

I also like a good rock band. A guitar or two with bass and drums? That's nice. But I would rather have a big sound including a keyboard. Better yet, there's the local band Beracah which had trumpets and flute. Other favorite bands include Styx, ELO, Yes, Petra, and Servant.

So what musical arrangement would be my first choice for a church worship? A big praise band, or a big praise orchestra?  

Actually, I'd prefer a solo piano. Or maybe one acoustic guitar, maybe with a flute or violin or French horn for the melody. 

Yes, I'm talking about my personal preference. No, I'm not saying everybody should conform to my thoughts. God is omnipotent, and He is magnified regardless of the instrumentation or the style. He is more concerned with the hearts than anything else.

But for me, being a lover of a full instrument sound, I can get distracted when there's more instruments. For me, simpler is better. If you want to be like the Church of Christ or the Psalmody movement and have singing without instruments, I wouldn't complain.

I remember being at one church where the instrumentation was the typical piano and organ. I believe the organist at our church played at ball parks, tough I could be wrong. But when we sang "Wonderful Grace of Jesus", he had an awesome riff during the chorus. And so instead of singing, I'm listening for the riff. 😱That's not what I want to do. I want to be concentrating on singing.

Let me go to another church. We also had the piano/organist combo. Likewise, we also had a good organist. But he did not want to play organ. Why? Because when he's playing the organ, he's not singing, and he wanted to sing praises to God!

Now, let me do what you expect and look at it from the other direction. Those who have talents to play instruments have it given by the Lord. Maybe for them, playing their instrument well is their way of giving glory to God. Do I want to keep an instrumentalist from glorifying God by limiting the number of instruments in the church service? God forbid!

So what's my point? Do I have one? It's this - our focus should be on praising God. We can praise Him with a simple format or with a full band or orchestra (or both) or without any instruments at all. But our focus in congregational singing should be on the singing.

One last story to close. When I lived in California in the early '80's, some of my friends were in a band that blew you away with great melodic riffs in their songs. That band broke up. Why? Because the music was overpowering the words.

Back to what my point is. Simple. Realize that worship is for God. It's not for us to draw attention to ourselves if we're on the performing side. It's not to entertain us if we're in the pews singing. Are we giving God the glory He's due?

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Sunday, October 3, 2021

PSALMS, HYMNS, SPIRITUAL CHORUSES, AND WORSHIP WARS - CHURCH MUSIC PART 1 OF 4

Song of the Angels, William-Adolphe Bouguereau


 "...speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord...." Ephesians 5:18

One of the saddest books I've read is Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement: Confessions of a Former Worship Leader by Dan Lucarini. Part of it is the book aims to be ammo for the traditional side but isn't that good. He basically is calling for an unconditional surrender from Contemporary music lovers, for them to put the interests of the traditionals above their own (though he never suggests the reverse), and for them not to refer to traditionals as legalists though he uses some insulting terms for the contemporaries. Even more so - Lucarini's views have led him to not use his talent for writing music for fear he'll follow his previous tendencies in style.

As I write this four part series, I'll from the front say that God is more concerned with what comes out of the heart than what goes into the ears. Christ is glorified by His children worshiping together and loving each other, and the style of the songs they're joyfully singing is, on the top ten list of things He's concerned about, is somewhere around 8 millionth (or is it billionth?). 

You might have noticed that the first three items I have on my list are similar to the wording in Ephesians 5:18 (quoted above) and Colossians 3:16, inserting "choruses" in place of "songs." It should not be surprising that there are some who suggest we should sing only one of the three, with advocates for each of the trio.

Let me start with hymns. I grew up with hymns. And I'm glad I did. First, there is some wonderful music. But more importantly, the lyrics of many hymns are awesome. You could preach sermons from a lot of the old hymns. For example, have you noticed the richness of the Christology (doctrine of Christ) in the Christmas song "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (words by Charles Wesley, music by classical composer Felix Mendelssohn)? The hymns have inspired, comforted, encouraged, challenged, taught, and exhorted for centuries.

On the other side of the normal battle lines are the contemporary choruses. Some are jokingly referred to as 7/11 songs - seven words repeated eleven times. Instead of the hymns rich four part harmonies, the choruses usually are sung in unison, sometimes allowing the men and women to sing separately (but most often, as an echo). I've commented on hearing a medley of one of my favorite hymns (Great Is Thy Faithfulness) and one of my favorite choruses (I Love You, Lord), and mentioning one could be a sermon and the other would need some padding.

That being said, worship choruses have also been a part of my heritage. While simpler, a lot of the choruses from Maranatha music are Scripture set to music, such as "Seek Ye First", "Psalm 5", "Unto Thee, O Lord," and "Humble Yourselves In The Sight of the Lord." While I don't believe we should make personal preference in style a condition for worship, I also don't think we should mandate that younger generations adapt to the music we or our parents or our grandparents love. By the way, let me continue about setting Scripture to music...

I mentioned a book that saddened me; now let me mention one that was a blessing: Sola Scriptura: The Protestant Position on the Bible, part of the Reformation Theology series by Soli Deo Gloria Publications. This collaboration (edited by Don Kistler, as you'll guess from the title, has a completely different focus than Lucarini's, and this one's focus is not on music. But in the final chapter, Joel Beeke does a superb job of point out the transforming power of Scripture which is why we hold to and defend the teaching of Sola Scriptura. In this chapter, I was introduced to the practice of psalmody.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, it is the belief that our Hymn book should be His book. In other words, we should be singing the words that the Holy Spirit inspired rather than the words men have penned. There are areas I disagree with them: 1) they normally sing aca pella, including psalms that say, "Praise the Lord with the harp! Praise Him with the loud sounding cymbals!" 2) they ignore other Scriptures for singing - I believe there are psalms in the prophets and the New Testament, the latter of which reflect Christian theology better than the Old Testament songs, and of course 3) I don't believe that Psalmody is any more spiritual than the other options. 

However, I admire the concept. Yes, I'd allow instruments, and I'd expand the song selection past the Psalms, but I admire the idea of letting our praise to Him being the inspired words of Scripture.

Let me clearly state, though, that the important thing is not which style we use, but that we love those who disagree. As Paul wrote in Romans 15:1-3, we should focus on pleasing our neighbors, not ourselves. We should be willing to sing joyfully what others want to sing.

Okay, I've gotten the elephant in the room dealt with. But should we sing hymns with the cymbals and the electric guitar? Should we sing contemporary choruses with piano and organ? Should we sing the Psalms with a full orchestra? More about that next Sunday.

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Sunday, September 26, 2021

BOOK REVIEW: CORPORATE WORSHIP BY MATT MERKER

 

This is the third of the 9Marks books I've read, and thus far it's my favorite. Matt Merker does an excellent job of pointing out why Christians should gather. (The Greek word translated "church" is εκκλησία (ekklesia), which means "an assembly.") He then points out how the church worship service is not just a show but where we can encourage each other.

One thing I like about this book is the author is aware his readers may disagree about other issues, and in his notes tries to present opposing views, keeping his focus on encouraging corporate worship.

Too often, in Christian circles "worship" is synonymous with "music." Merker (who is a musician/songwriter) does deal with the singing in the service, but he views the whole service to be worship and singing is just one form of worship during the service.

Allow me to add one area where I disagree with what he says, though I agree with why he says it, and he may agree with my ideas on the subject, which deals with Special Music. In fact, starting next Sunday (October 3, 2021), I'll be doing a four part series on church music.

I highly recommend this book for all Christians, and especially for pastors/elders and music leaders, not just to read themselves but have discussion groups with the congregation about this book.

What ways can you think of to develop Christian community, especially during the Sunday morning worship service?

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