Jesus on Giving, Praying & Fasting

February 9, 2010 at 7:00 am · Filed under Scripture ·Tagged , , ,

Matthew 6:2

So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

Matthew 6:5

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

Matthew 6:16

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

 

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission of International Bible Society

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Fishers of men

February 4, 2010 at 5:49 pm · Filed under Children ·Tagged

A children’s message based on Luke 5:1-11.

Feel free to put this into your own words if you give children’s messages and use the same lectionary readings as we do.  This is based on the gospel lesson for 2/7/2010.

In today’s bible story, Jesus; a carpenter’s son who may have never fished a day in his life, approaches some seasoned fishermen, who have been fishing all their lives; they make a living at it, and probably know those waters better than anyone else.  They had been fishing all night and had caught nothing.  Jesus tells one of the men, Simon, were to lower his nets to find fish and to Simon’s surprise the net overflows with so many fish that he needs help to bring it in.

How did Jesus know where the fish would be when the knowledgeable fishermen did not?  The answer is that Jesus, although being a man is also God, and it’s quite possible that he miraculously controlled those fish and caused them to jump right into the fishermen’s nets.  Remember, this is the same person who also walked on water, changed water into wine and stopped the winds by just saying a word!

Jesus went on to invite these men to be “fishers of men.”  He actually wants these guys to follow him, and to help him to spread the word about the coming Messiah and to tell the people that they need to repent of their sins, be baptized, and believe that Jesus is the Messiah who has come to save people from their sins.  Jesus saw a quality in these men; perhaps a quality that is characteristic of most fisherman.  They are patient, sometimes going for days without even a bite, but they keep at it, and they hone their skills to become better and better at what they do.  So we are to be patient as we also set out to be “fishers of men.”

Isn’t it amazing how Jesus could control those fish?  It seems that nature sometimes follows his command.  In fact, God created all those fish so why shouldn’t they obey him. You know God could have made just one type of fish, but in his endless creativity he made over 25,000 species.

He made Clown fish that are colored like an undersea flower;

and sharks that can swim at one and half miles per hour.

He made fish out of jelly; and fish that are smelly,

He even made fish that have more than one belly.

He made fish with wings that can fly;

And others that have but one eye.

He made fish with five arms and shaped like a star;

He even created a fish that we call a gar.

He made spinney venomous fish that if you step on one, you might die;

And He created the rainbow trout, whose favorite food is a fly.

Fish with swords and saws, blowholes and built-in lights, a fish shaped like a horse covered with body armor and having a curly tale; He even designed a fish that has a fishing pole on his head to catch other fish!

This is an amazing God who has created us and everything around us.  We all need to be fishers of men, young and old; we have an important job to get out into the world and spread the great news that Jesus came to save us from our sins and that it is only through Him that we can be saved and have eternal life.

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Musical Style Should Not Split a Church

February 2, 2010 at 7:00 am · Filed under How to Start, Worship Music ·Tagged

From a theological perspective, there are both good and bad hymns and there are good and bad contemporary songs.  There are also good and bad ways to use both styles of music.  My goal in this posting is not to bad mouth either style of music, for that would be bashing a vehicle that is used to praise and glorify God and Satan’s already done a pretty good job of creating wars and setting us against each other.  Nor is it my purpose to take sides.  I would like to make a case for blending both styles.  The following points assume that both styles of music have sound biblical lyrics, express the Gospel message effectively, and that the music is used to serve the word as opposed to being a “means of grace” in and of itself.  What we are left with are only the stylistic differences and this alone is not a strong enough issue to divide a church for the following reasons:

  1. Fundamentally, it’s a matter of personal taste, like the color of the carpet.  Jesus’ death on the cross trumps this.
  2. We are Christ’s people; we bear His name; He has made each of us different.  Out of Christian love for one another, consider it your act of fellowship towards your brothers and sisters in Christ to worship your creator using each other’s favorite musical styles.
  3. God loves us unconditionally.  We in turn should praise and worship and glorify Him unconditionally.  Don’t let things like style taint your worship of Him.
  4. It’s God’s church.  Not yours.  Whether you state it or not, Jesus is at, or should be at, the top of your Org chart.  And He is for unity.  Do what pleases Him.
  5. Splitting over style is making a statement that style is more important than whatever else is holding you together; things like the Gospel, like Jesus’ death, the promise of eternal life in heaven and His love for each one of us.
  6. Causing a split is Satan’s game.  Don’t let that scoundrel win.
  7. We do not know the style of music in heaven.  Be prepared.  It could be all hymns or all contemporary music or something entirely new to us.  Don’t get hung up on any one style.  The great news is that whatever type of music is used; rest assured that you will be enjoying it immensely.
  8. Music does not unite a church, much more important and weighty things do; like the Gospel, the inerrancy of scripture and the proper administering of the Sacraments.  So how can it divide a church?  Put things in their proper perspective.
  9. Use this issue to unite, to strengthen, and to teach mutual respect and acceptance of each other’s differences.
  10.   “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  – Col 3:16   This scripture reeks of using musical variety.
  11. To Lutherans, music is not a “means of grace”.  It’s just not vital enough to warrant dividing us.
  12. We need to realize that music is subjective and different people have different tastes.
  13. God feeds us through his word, not through music styles.
  14. We need to be careful not to let any style of music become an idol.  Be watchful of traditionalism, which can be bad.  Traditions, on the other hand can be good.
  15. The Holy Spirit is powerful enough to work with any style of music and any instrument that is used as accompaniment.

 

A few quotes:

 Services are repetitious - What is taught is not objectionable, rather it is the redundancy or stylistic monotony with which the young people take issue. – (WELS Study) Why Young People Leave the WELS

Lack of a more contemporary approach - They are not asking for a total reversal, however, more modern music and tying the religious teachings to current events and issues facing society represent a direction this group is very much looking for.  They want to be able to come to church and hear a more modern style of music included with the traditional hymns. – (WELS Study) Why Young People Leave the WELS

 Recognize that what makes certain styles appropriate can be tradition, familiarity, and a sense that a certain style communicates proper respect, or a missional conviction that a style will appeal to a target generation or people group.  None of this can be proven by a Bible verse or a mathematical formula, so reactions to musical choices are often more visceral than reasonable.  – excerpted from Bryan Chapell, CHRIST-CENTERED WORSHIP: LETTING THE GOSPEL SHAPE OUR PRACTICE. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic. 2009, pp. 296-97.

“God is not Western; God is not Eastern; God is not exclusively the God of classical culture or primitive culture; God is the Lord of the plethora, the God of the diverse, the redeemer of the plural.  Likewise, God calls for responses in different languages, dialects, and idioms, accepting them through the Son.  Pentecost tells us that one artistic tongue is only a start and a thousand will never suffice.  There is no single chosen language or artistic or musical style that, better than others, can capture and repeat back the fullness of the glory of God.  This truism cannot be avoided.  No single culture can hold the wholeness of praise and worship or the fullness of the counsel of God.” - Harold Best, in MUSIC THROUGH THE EYES OF FAITH, Chapter 3, “Musical Pluralism and Diversity,” Harper Collins, 1993, p. 66.

“Differing musical styles allows people of differing backgrounds, ages and experiences to worship God wholeheartedly together.” - Bob Kauflin

“The Scriptures include or allude to just about every approach to worship there is: organized, spontaneous, public, private, simple, complex, ornate or plain. Yet there is no comment anywhere about any one way being preferred over another.  This fact alone countermands the tendency to assume that if we could just find the correct or fashionably relevant system, all will be well and God will come down.  This doesn’t imply that we have no responsibility to make intelligent and sensitive choices or to be creative.  But whatever these choices eventually are, they are incapable all by themselves of establishing the superiority of one system over another.” -Harold Best, in MUSIC THROUGH THE EYES OF FAITH, chapter 7, “The Nature of Worship, Faith, Grace, and Music Making,” Harper Collins, 1993, p. 146.

Recognize that God’s Word, and His Word alone, strengthen faith.  Not music.  Without God’s Word, no musical style is beneficial to the faith; with God’s Word a variety of musical styles can benefit faith.  – from “Should rock music be used in church?”  WELS Q&A: The Church and Its Ministry – Music/Worship (01)

Whatever music choices the church makes, however, must always meet these criteria: Does the music edify? Does the music appropriately carry the message of God’s word so that the Christian faith is able to be built up and strengthened? Or is faith distracted from the Word because of the music? Does the music carry the gospel message or is the music being used as a substitute for the gospel?  - from “Should rock music be used in the church?” WELS Q&A: The Church and Its Ministry – Music/Worship (01)

Blending the gospel-proclaiming forms of the church’s past with musical styles that are part of the church’s present may enable us to offer the people of today the timeless message that Jesus saves. – from “Blended worship that works” by Professor James Tiefel

The Bible and the Lutheran Confessions make it clear that the form, style, and structure of our worship are matters of Christian freedom. – from “A Synod that Values Worship” by Pastor Mark Schroeder

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the CAGED System

January 29, 2010 at 7:00 am · Filed under Theory ·Tagged

What is the CAGED system for guitar and how to use it?

Level: Intermediate

This post is best viewed on a wide screen monitor.  If you cannot see the entire chord table below, and would like a copy, just drop me an email or reply to this posting and I will get a copy to you.

The CAGED system refers to a series of “movable” chord shapes.  These movable chords are the C, A, G, E and D open chord shapes.  First let’s discuss the missing chords.  We have the B and F chords.  These are not part of the CAGED system because their open chord shapes are already derived from a movable basic chord shape.  Namely, the B chord is really the open A chord shape moved up two frets and the F chord is really the open E chord shape moved up one fret.  The other missing chords are the various sharps and flats.  These are missing from the list for the very same reason as the F and B chords; i.e., the sharp and flats chords are all made by moving any of the open CAGED chords.

Now that the definition is out of the way, let’s look at an application.  Before I go further, let me state that it really is a beautiful thing that with the guitar, we can move things either up or down the neck to change pitches and keys, without changing our finger patterns, and this goes for both chords and scale patterns.

The object now is to create a bunch of new chord shapes, inversions and voicings by using the movable CAGED chord shapes.  This is a topic for intermediate level guitarists.  Most beginners learn all the open chords and probably learned to move the A, E, Am and Em chord shapes up the neck but stopped there.  In this post we will see that the C, G, and D chord shapes can also be moved up the neck as well.  The important thing to remember is that the open strings need to be “covered” as we move these chords up the neck.  Sometimes the finger patterns are difficult so guitarists will then resort to playing only partial chord shapes, sometimes only covering 3 or 4 strings.  Still with me?  Let’s get started!

The following table contains many of the new chord shapes formed up the neck made by moving the common open chord shapes contained in the top row of the table.

Note – You can download a copy of this article, including the above table in my file download area if you would like a copy, or if the table is hard to read on your monitor.

Not all of these chords will be usable due to difficult fingerings.  The shortened versions will be easier.  The goal here is not to have you memorize all these chords, but rather that you understand the theory behind these chord creations and how they were made by moving existing chord shapes.  The curious guitarist will take these chords and use them in a particular neck position for any given song and typically might concentrate using the chords in the area on the fretboard where the major or pentatonic scale patterns are located.  You might also use these chord patterns to pick out melody notes and arpeggios. 

Now you know what those professional guitarists that you see either at concerts or on TV are doing when you see them playing these small chords all over the neck.

Enjoy and practice what you’ve learned.  Here’s a little ditty about Jack & Diane that uses the A & C chord shapes:

E———————————————————————–

B—2——3——2——5—5—5—3——3—3—5——5—5—

G—2——2——2——4—4—4—2——2—2—4——4—4—

D—2——4——2——6—6—6—4——4—4—6——6—6—

A—0——0——0——0—0—0—0——0—0—0——0—0—

E———————————————————————–

 In the above passage, barr your first finger across the first four strings for all the chord shapes.  Use your second finger on the second string and your third finger on the forth string as you move up and down the neck.

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Praise!

January 26, 2010 at 7:00 am · Filed under All Others, Book V: 107-150 ·Tagged , , ,

Praise Bands, Praise Teams, Praise Charts, Praise Ensembles, etc. – What’s the big deal with praise?

It’s mentioned a whopping 351 times in scripture (292 times in the OT and 59 in the NT).  In essence, it’s this: praise is one of those activities that we can do right now, here on earth, and it continues forever into eternity in heaven.  If you think about it, this is not the case for many other church and worship related activities; like preaching, teaching, praying, evangelism, etc.  These other items are important to us now, but perhaps not so much in heaven.  So praise is important to us, and not only to those practicing contemporary music with a praise band, it’s important for all of us. 

Psalm 148 – My favorite “Praise Psalm”

 

Praise the LORD.  Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.

Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.

He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the LORD.

Wow!

One contemporary song that brings out this theme nicely is “O Praise Him” by David Crowder.  Our band will be playing this during the offering on 2/14/2010 since Ps 148 is the Psalm of the day for that Sunday.  You can hear it here:

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission of International Bible Society

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Music and Prayer

January 19, 2010 at 7:00 am · Filed under Prayer, Worship Idea, Worship Music

If you haven’t tried it yet, music and prayer can be a powerful worship combination when used together.  The next time that the Pastor is praying on behalf of the congregation, have your musicians softly play an instrumental piece in the background.  It can add a new dimension to your prayers.  I would further suggest that Pastors let their musicians choose the musical accompaniment because they understand things about the music that can help to serve your prayerful words.

The Pastor might even choose to add a few well placed pauses in his prayer, knowing that the musicians will paint their pictures on his silence, so that his prayerful words can dwell with us.  Give it a try sometime; you might be pleasantly surprised.  Selah.

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Slash Chords

January 15, 2010 at 7:00 am · Filed under Theory ·Tagged ,

Slash chords are a powerful addition to the rhythm guitarist’s library of tricks.  Most contemporary music now includes a lot of slash chords, but even if you’re sheet music doesn’t; you can add them in the right places to make a noticeable difference.  Basically a slash chord is a chord with an alternate bass or root note.   So a “D/F#” chord, pronounced “D over F#”, is really a D chord having an F# note as its bass (or lowest note).  Note that the F# is part of the D chord (DF#A) but it’s placed in a different position, and the root is a dominant position that will change the sound of the chord.  Slash chords are especially useful in emphasizing bass runs over a chord progression.  For example,  If you are strumming a D chord and the next measure changes to a G chord; that’s an ideal place to play a D/F# on the beat just before changing to the G chord because the F# bass will resolve up to the G chord.  Musically, it will look like this:

| D   /   /   D/F# |  G  /  /  /  |

Similarly, you can also use slash chords in the opposite direction:

| G   /   /   / |  D/F#  D  /  /  |

Here are some finger patterns for commonly used slash chords:

D/F#    – 200232 (use your thumb to play the F# note on the low E string (second fret)

Or I like to play it 20023x and use my first finger to grab the F#.

Em/G   – 322000 (use your pinky to grab that G note on the low E string (third fret)      

F#m/A – x04222

A/C#    – x4222x (use your first finger to bar at the second fret and your third finger to grab the C# (fifth string forth fret)

Bm/D   -  xx0432

A/E – 002220

A/G – 3×2220 or x02223

C/D – xx0010

C/E – 032010

C/G – 332010

D/A – x00232 or 554030

D/C – x3×232

D/G – 3×0232

E/A – x22100

E/G# – 4×2400

F/A – x03211

G/A – 300003

G/B – x20033

G/C – 330003

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Praise Statements?

January 12, 2010 at 7:00 am · Filed under Acclaimation, Scripture, Worship Idea

I don’t know what to call these biblical statements, but I sure do like them.  Can we use these in worship?

 

Holy, Holy, Holy:

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come (Revelation 4:8)

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6:3)

You Are Worthy:

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being (Revelation 4:11)

You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God (Revelation 5:9)

Hosanna:

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the King of Israel! (John 12:13)

Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!  (Matthew 21:9)

Hallelujah:

Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God (Revelation 13:1)

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission of International Bible Society

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Electric Guitar BLOG

January 8, 2010 at 7:00 am · Filed under Books and Websites, Electric, Learn a Song ·Tagged

 If you’re serious about using an electric guitar in worship and want to learn some specific lead patterns to popular songs, then you owe it to yourself to check out this BLOG:

http://guitarpraise.blogspot.com/

They also do a nice job of describing various rhythms for the acoustic guitar.

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Worship Styles

January 5, 2010 at 7:00 am · Filed under Worship ·Tagged

The following table compares the various styles of worship, as seen by one who has never been to a true contemporary worship service (so my details are all second hand), who has been to thousands of traditional services, and maybe a couple hundred or so blended services.  Your definitions and experiences will definitely be different.

  Contemporary Blended Traditional
Opening Informal Greeting, Announcements, Testimonials Pastoral Greeting, Scripture-based Call to Worship Formal Invocation; Routine
Confession/Absolution May or may not be used; might be included as a song Spoken; might vary week-to-week Spoken; routine, per the Hymnal
Liturgy Non-liturgical, no weekly routine, might contain drama, skits, art, dance, etc. Some routine, Musical – Praise Band Accompaniment, Creeds Formal, Routine, Creeds, Musical – Organ Accompaniment, per the Hymnal
Scripture Readings Based on the day’s theme; often uses Lay readers OT, Psalm, NT; might include Lay readers, Lectionary driven OT, Psalm, NT; Pastor only, Lectionary driven
Music All contemporary, Praise Sets; praise band ensemble Some hymns, some contemporary songs, hymns to new arrangements, organ & praise band, MIDI Hymns; organ, Chanted Psalm of the Day, the music serves the Word, Preludes & Postludes – usually classical pieces, SATB Choirs, hand bell choirs
Sermon Topical & Relevant; uses videos and graphic imagery Expository; might include PowerPoint charts Expository Preaching
Prayers Prayers by and for the people, Timely and Relevant Lord’s Prayer, Timely and Applicable Prayers written by the Pastor Formal, prewritten prayers per the Hymnal, Lord’s Prayer, Pastoral Prayers, Responsive Prayers
Closing Time for greeting each other Benediction, Sending Song, Announcements Benediction, Closing Hymn,Ushered Out
Atmosphere Lively, Informal, Participatory, Expressive, Emotional, Coffee & Couches, Seeker Sensitive, Trendy, Minimal Ceremony, Mega-Churches Respectful, Upbeat, Modern, Relevant, Visitor Friendly Routine, Orderly, Orthodox, Respectful, Liturgical, Reverent,Dignified, Cerebral, Safe, Structured
Key Passages (Physically Expressive Psalm Passages): 95:6-7, 149:3, 47:1, 63:4, 149:3, 134:2, 22:23, 16:9  also Ex 12:27, Job 1:20,  Ex 34:8, Php 2:10, 1 Cor 6:20, Eph 5:19, Rev 15:2, Neh 8:6, Rev 5:11-14, 1 Tim 2:8 Col 3:16, “Psalm 90’s”, OT Instrumental Worship: Nehemiah, Chronicles, etc. 1 Cor 14:40, Heb 12:28, Heb 13:7

 

Personally,  I do favor blended worship (actually leaning more towards traditional than contemporary).   It just seems to me that going overboard in either extreme direction can be troublesome.   That’s just a personal opinion that works for me and for my worship but yours may vary because our gracious God has lovingly made us all different.    I do pray that worship can be offered in spirit and truth across the board, across languages, across cultures, across lands, across time, using differing forms of technology and wherever two or more are gathered in His name.   May God be glorified in all styles and may His kingdom grow regardless of style.   What’s important to me is that biblical truths are adhered to, prayers are offered, Sacraments are faithfully administered, offerings are gathered, sins are being confessed, praise is being offered, God is given all the glory and His inerrant word is heard.   I do pray for those worshipping on the far right; faithfully watching doctrine and singing hymns; it just seems to me that we are struggling a bit.   Perhaps the tides will turn some time soon.   What once was old, often times becomes new again.

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