What is the most often sung Christmas hymn in North America? Here’s a hint: it was never meant to be a Christmas song. Well, if you said “Joy to the World” you are correct. But even a casual glance at this favorite reveals much more of a Second Coming theme than it does a Christmas theme. Yet it is one of the world’s favorite Christmas songs of all time. If the question is “what makes it so great?” the answer may be found in two genius craftsmen: Isaac Watts and Lowell Mason. “Joy to the … [Read more...]
Thankful people
Quick…name a chorus or a hymn dedicated to thanksgiving. Not that easy is it? In fact, outside of a couple of the favorites that are quite old (“Give Thanks,” “We Gather Together,” “My Tribute,” “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come”) I can’t think of many. We know that “thanksgiving” is different from “praise;” however, in our worship time they tend to merge into adoration. This is natural as many of the Psalms that include thanksgiving (which are many) tend to occur inside an “enthronement” … [Read more...]
The future of worship
As a worship leader for the past 30 years, I have read countless articles titled, “The Future of Worship.” These have typically been written by a visionary “in the industry” that has his finger on the very pulse of the now and the future. Now, we are reading many articles on “The future of...” thanks to the COVID-19 virus. As I write this, I am spending time with our church staff looking at the reopening of our sanctuary “Regathering” at Parkway Baptist Church in St. Louis. It is my … [Read more...]
‘As you pray, so you believe’
Lex orandi, Lex credende. In worship academia, this phrase is passed around a lot. It means, “As you pray (or worship), so you believe.” As an instructor of worship and a worship leader, lately, I have been challenged in my prayer life. Deep down, I know that strong corporate worship must be rooted in proper prayer, and boy have we had something to pray about! While we are all probably tired of everything COVID-19, it does allow us to pray and to review our prayer life, doesn’t it? … [Read more...]
‘O come, O come Emmanuel’
This classic carol deserves its own mention, as it is probably one of the most sung in all of Advent and Christmastide. Featured in over 459 hymnals, it is powerful in its word and music: O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to you, O Israel. The fascinating aspect of this hymn is that while it has only been in the English language since 1851, it was around for way longer … [Read more...]
Making Great Commission disciples through worship
What is the purpose of the church? In the mandate of Christ in the last chapter of Matthew, it is quite clear. The purpose of the church is “to make disciples.” This “disciple making” manifests itself in many facets: through preaching, through teaching, through giving, through fellowship, through evangelism, and greatly through worship. “Worship-discipling” is patterned time and again in the Old Testament, as the elder priests would cycle off after a certain age to allow the young priests … [Read more...]
Reflecting on Baptist worship
I am a history nerd, especially when it comes to worship. When we realize that most denominational divides came mainly from worship, it is important that we look at what it all means. The old worship wars were intense…much more than what we have seen over the past thirty years. These were ideals that the people that would be known as Baptists lived and died for. These early worship divides were not over what you might think when you regard worship, namely music. Rather, they were over what … [Read more...]
Easter calls for extravagant worship
“Less is more . . .” I knew what the pastor meant in his words to me at a conference that I spoke at recently. He was talking about having worship be simpler, more direct. But, as I pointed out to him, he misspoke. A movement in the church is a desire to return it to its primordial mode of Acts 2. The background research is excellent, and I think that its model closely portrays the early Christian church. In view of the Simple Church movement, where does the act of worship fall? Simple? … [Read more...]
Celebrating Advent, or Twelve Days
When I was a kid, we had great Christmas times. Mom would bake, family would come in. My dad and I would chop down a tree every year. School was out; it was a great season. I loved all our traditions, save one. On Christmas day, at around 10:45 a.m. my dad would say, “Alright, let’s take it down.” He was referring to the tree. We would pull all the decorations down and pack them away and place the poor dead tree carcass in the back field. And with a late lunch that day, Christmas was … [Read more...]
Music instrumental to our worship
Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy. 1 Chr.15:16 (NKJV) In my younger days, when I was trying to ‘make it’ as a musician, I had 10-15 trumpet students per week. This was a source of great enjoyment for me. I would work each student over for thirty minutes a week. We would practice arpeggios, lip slurs, etudes and … [Read more...]
First things first
From the most slovenly teenager, to the über-organized, air-traffic controller, our systems crave order. Order is in our DNA. We can’t imagine having sunset in the morning, nor think about building snowmen to commemorate Independence Day; gloves go on the hands, and shoes fit nowhere else, except the feet. French toast for supper is a strange feeling . . . and pizza for breakfast? – well O.K. there are SOME exceptions. It doesn’t take too long in Bible study to realize that God is a God of … [Read more...]
The blessings of Christian worship
Worship is a blessing. The word blessing, if we take it back to its Hebrew form, is Berakhah. It was, at one time, the chief form of prayer in synagogue worship, which gave the blueprint for worship in the early church. Numbers 6:23-27, is often referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer of the Old Testament.” It says: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you … [Read more...]