I just got this picture off Paul Baloche’s website (www.leadworship.com). There’s nothing unique about this picture, and I could have posted one of many similar hundreds of artists concert photos; but if I were to tell you 20 years ago that in 2008 tens of thousands of young people would cheer and scream at Christian concerts around the world, would you have believed it? I certainly wouldn’t have. These people have come to these concerts to encounter God! God is truly doing something wonderful today!
Archive for October, 2008
God is truly inspiring something wonderful today!
To God, you are the “bees knees”; He delights in you!
He rescued me because He delighted in me
-Ps 18:19b (NIV)
I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!
-Ps 18:19b (the Message)
He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.
-Ps 18:19b (NLT)
When I was fenced in, you freed and rescued me because you love me.
-Ps 18:19b (CEV)
How to Choose Music Wisely
How to Choose Music Wisely
These are the things that I think about when choosing contemporary music for use in worship.
Very Important Steps:
1. The first step is to pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. You will be surprised how many ideas pop into your head if you do this rigorously.
2. Seek your Pastor’s input. At the very least, you need to review song lyrics for theological and doctrinal accuracy with him. Over time, he may trust your judgment but unlike God’s forgiveness, this has to be earned. Being in worship every Sunday as well as Bible class is a must.
3. Our worship follows a theme each week. We also follow a Lectionary series and each service includes four scripture readings (Old Testament, Psalm, Epistle & New Testament). I choose our music to match some combination of the theme, readings, or the church season that we happen to be in. If you do this for a while, you will even get the knack of finding a common thread to pursue through all the readings.
a. We do not group our songs together as is a common practice in many contemporary services. If this is your practice, then other guidelines might influence your song choices such as keys and tempos. We are not hindered by such things. We choose our songs based solely on God’s word being considered for that day.
4. I usually start with both the scriptural index and the thematic indices in our songbooks. This is the easiest way to select music that matches the worship theme.
5. Another favorite trick of mine is to use my computer to quickly search through song lyrics. I have one file, a WORD document, where I paste all my lyrics into. Oftentimes I will search through this file for key words that match the worship theme.
6. Just because it’s in your songbooks, or your personal library, does not mean that it’s sound doctrine. All lyrics need to be reviewed. Here’s what I look for:
a. Look for agreement with scriptural principles. Look for biblical language and words.
b. Look for unique characteristics, attributes and deeds of God, and avoid generic songs. For example, look for specific mentioning of Jesus by name, the Trinity, things that God has done, etc. Avoid generic wishy-washy lyrics.
c. Avoid “man-centered” songs. Concentrate on Christ-centered songs but remember that we worship a Triune God as well.
d. Look for a mix of song types:
i. Songs that we sing to each other (Horizontal, edifying)
ii. Songs that we sing to God (Vertical, upward, prayer)
iii. Some songs are even God speaking to us (Vertical, downward)
iv. Songs about God’s transcendent nature (God our friend)
v. Songs about God’s imminence (Holy God)
vi. Songs in the first person (I and me)
vii. Corporate songs (we and us)
viii. “Head Worship” (doctrine) vs “Heart Worship” (devotion, love, thankfulness)
ix. “Prostration” (awe) vs “Celebration” (joy)
1. All of these song types are acceptable, but you might not want to have all of your music on one Sunday from one category. My advice is to read through your lyrics and know what song types you have chosen.
1. Here’s some other things to look for:
a. Look for lyrics that are edifying and instructive.
b. Look for lyrics that are profound and substantial.
c. Look for lyrics that are clear and understandable.
d. Look for lyrics that enhance your understanding of God.
2. Once I’ve selected the song choices, the next step is to arrange them in the service.
a. I typically place the songs as close to the reading that they are derived from as possible.
b. I usually try to use the simplest song first. Oftentimes its theme will be more of a “Call to Worship” than to specifically match the theme.
c. Sometimes, before the Pastor’s sermon, I will use an upbeat song and then after his sermon I will use a more reflective song to enhance his message.
More Subjective Steps:
1. Repetition in your music is OK. Read Psalm 136 or Rev 4:8 for biblical examples.
2. I usually also look for a mix of tempos (fast, slow, and medium). This is just for variety and isn’t necessary. Ditto for ¾, 4/4 and 6/8 timings.
3. Look for songs to set the mood that you are shooting for. Upbeat songs are energetic while songs in a minor key are oftentimes more mournful or introspective. Are you after joy, praise, thanksgiving, reflective, solemn, heart pounding, majestic, responsive, contrition, etc.? All of these have a place in worship but they need to match the theme of the day.
4. Look for songs that your congregation can handle.
a. Almost everyone can sing notes in the range of low C to high C (We call this “Sea to Shining Sea”)! You can hit high D’s and E’s on occasion but don’t overdue it. Especially for an opening song.
b. Avoid syncopated rhythms.
c. Avoid songs with large interval jumps (in pitch) on adjacent notes.
d. Look for memorable melodies.
i. Remember that good music that is difficult to sing can be left to your soloists.
A few of the above items were taken from : “How to Evaluate Songs for Congregational Worship” by Scott Christensen
Is it Routine?
The Lord’s Prayer, the Kyrie, the Confession of Sins, the Absolution of Sins, the Gloria in Excelsis, the Niceen Creed, the Apostle’s Creed, the Sanctus, the Angus Dei, the Nunc Dimittis and the Benediction. These are all important elements of Lutheran worship that we use often.
We need to watch ourselves that we don’t use these out of habit or routine and give them only “lip service.” These are all critically important statements that need our undivided attention in worship.
Pastor Jeremiah Gumm commented on this at his blog:
http://shepherdstudy.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/kyrie-eleison/
On occasion, at our church we will use alternate arrangements of these elements to cause us to rethink and to help us to absorb what we are saying. I recently posted on a responsive version of the Lord’s prayer here:
http://sjbrown58.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/a-worship-service-based-on-the-lords-prayer/
A while back we used Steve Merkel’s version of the Kyrie. This uses the powerful “Lord Have Mercy” as a response to sin in musical form. We usually have a soloist sing the verses and the congregation joins in on the chorus. You can here the song performed here:
CCLI Song No. 2989578
© 2000 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music
by Steve Merkel
We have even taken beautiful hymns like “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” by Issac Watts, and sang them to Chris Tomlin’s arrangement “The Wonderful Cross” and sang along to a musical video with vivid imagery that depicted the song lyrics. It takes on new meaning when you actually do survey the wondrous cross as you sing it.
It’s important to note that there is beauty and God-pleasing worship in our traditions. For this reason, we cling steadfastly to our traditions; and only use ideas as noted in this posting on an occassional basis – they are the exception, not the rule.
Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem; Creatorem coeli et terrae.
Apostle’s Creed Responsive Recitation
Latin is a beautiful language. At Messiah Lutheran, we are fortunate enough to have a member that speaks it well. The amazing thing about this langauge is that many of our modern English words have their roots in Latin, so that as we listen to it, we can often times pick up what’s being said. We plan to recite the Apostle’s Creed responsively using the Latin language for Reformation Sunday (the language in which it was originally recorded). Here’s our script:
Pastor: We will now recite the words of the Apostle’s creed responsively, together with the Latin translation, the language in which the creed was originally recorded.
Lay Reader: Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem; Creatorem caeli et terrae.
Congregation: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
Lay Reader: Et in Jesum Christum, Filium ejus unicum, Dominum nostrum; qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria virgine; passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus; descendit ad inferna.
Congregation: I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.
Lay Reader: tertia die resurrexit a mortuis; ascendit ad caelos; sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis; inde venturus (est) judicare vivos et mortuos.
Congregation: The third day, He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
Lay Reader: Credo in Spiritum Sanctum; sanctam ecclesiam catholicam; sanctorum communionem; remissionem peccatorum; carnis resurrectionem; vitam aeternam. Amen.
Congregation: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
How to use your MP3 Device in Your Ministry
My MP3 player is a ZUNE but the following applies to IPODs, SANSAs or any other types of MP3 players.
These are valuable tools for your ministry; especially if you are involved in music ministry. I have thousands of Christian songs stored on my MP3 player. The real beauty of these devices is their ability to store songs in user-defined “Playlists.”
I. PLAYLISTS:
As I listen to my player, I jot down notes based on the song lyrics, noting particularly where they might be used in worship. I then put them in “folders” on my device referred to as “Playlists.” For example, my playlists include:
Hymns – This is where I store all my hymns.
Scripture Songs – This is where I store songs that are scripture put to music. Todd Agnew’s song “Isaiah 6” is a good example.
Songs Done Before – This is music that we’ve already used in worship. I find this to be handy because I know that these songs do not require a lot of band practice should we decide to use them again in the future.
But the bulk of my playlists refer to our church calendar. Here’s a sampling:
Advent
Christmas
Epiphany
Ash Wed
Lent
Palm Sunday
Good Friday
Easter
Ascension
Pentecost
Trinity Sunday
Reformation
Thanksgiving
And finally, I use other playlists to store songs for special services such as:
Stewardship Focus
Mission Festival
Vacation Bible School
This enables me to quickly find songs for any worship event.
II. PODCASTS:
Another use of an MP3 player is to store and listen to Podcasts. These are audio or video files that you can subscribe to over the Internet. They are free, available on any subject matter you can think of, and will update automatically whenever new content is added and when you sync your device to your PC. There are thousands of Podcasts available now which are of interest to Pastors and Worship Leaders. I am only going to recommend one Podcast here, but I regularly listen to about a dozen or so per week. My favorite is actually put out by our Synod (WELS) and is called WELSTECH. You can subscribe in ITUNES or you can find their link in my BLOGROLL sidebar. This is a weekly Podcast that discusses various technologies that can be used in the teaching and worship ministries. It is in fact this Podcast where I learned to BLOG. I have also learned useful things like creating custom worship videos through this Podcast. You need to give podcasts a try if you haven’t yet.
For your convenience, here’s the WELSTECH site where you can sign-up for their podcast:
http://welstech.wels.net/wpmu/
III. MUSIC PRACTICE:
I also use my MP3 device as an instructional aid for the music that I’m scheduled to lead. In my ministry, I play guitar and sing for one Sunday each month. Prior to this service, I will place all of the upcoming songs into a special playlist and I listen to each song a couple dozen times, or until the groove and rhythm really hits home with me. I then sing along with the song and also play along with it. The MP3 player is a nice substitute for a metronome.
IV. CHOIR / BAND TOOL:
Oftentimes during band rehearsal, I’ll plug my MP3 player into my guitar amplifier so that my fellow band members and singers can hear the song that we are about to learn.
V. SONG SHARING:
Be careful with copyright issues here. There is one on-line musical source for church musicians called “Songtouch.” At their site, you can download Christian MP3s and you are allowed to legally make up to 10 copies of each downloaded song. When we first started learning contemporary music at our church, I used this service to get hundreds of potential songs into the hands of our choir/band. “Songtouch” is associated with CCLI so you can find them at their home page or at this link:
http://songtouch.com/default.aspx
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this brief “how to” post. I plan to do a few more in the upcoming weeks. Please post a reply if you have found other uses for your MP3 device in your ministry.
What is the voice of God? – based on Psalm 29
In this responsive reading; the Pastor accentuates the word “voice”
Pastor: The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
Men: the God of glory thunders,
Women: the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
Pastor: The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
All: the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
Pastor: The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
All: the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
Pastor: The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
All: “Glory!”, “Glory!”, “Glory!”
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society
Any Ten-Stringed Lyre Players Out There?
Psalm 33
Instructions: Part of this is a conversation between the Pastor & a Lay Reader conversing with each other in front of the congregation. The congregation is witnessing and listening to the conversation.
Pastor: Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
Lay Reader: it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Pastor: Praise the LORD with the harp;
Lay Reader: make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Pause – Guitarist strums softly in the background (We plan to use “I Will Celebrate” by Rita Blaoche).
Pastor: (waits 20 seconds or so)
Sing to him a new song;
Lay Reader: play skillfully, and shout for joy.
Pause – Congregation sings “I Will Celebrate”. The pianist joins in on the keyboard & the guitar gets louder.
Song ends – music stops.
Pastor: For the word of the LORD is right and true;
Lay Reader: he is faithful in all he does.
Pastor: The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
Lay Reader: the earth is full of his unfailing love.
Pastor: By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
Lay Reader: their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
Pastor: He gathers the waters of the sea into jars,
Lay Reader: he puts the deep into storehouses.
Pastor: Let all the earth fear the LORD;
Lay Reader: let all the people of the world revere him.
Pastor: For he spoke, and it came to be;
Lay Reader: he commanded, and it stood firm.
Pastor: The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
Lay Reader: he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
Pastor: But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
Lay Reader: the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Pastor: Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
Lay Reader: the people he chose for his inheritance.
Pastor: From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;
Lay Reader: from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth-
Pastor: He who forms the hearts of all,
Lay Reader: who considers everything they do.
Pastor: No king is saved by the size of his army;
Lay Reader: no warrior escapes by his great strength.
Pastor: A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
Lay Reader: despite all its great strength it cannot save.
Pastor: But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
Lay Reader: on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
Pastor: to deliver them from death
Lay Reader: and keep them alive in famine.
All: We wait in hope for the LORD;
Lay Reader: he is our help and our shield.
All: In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
Pastor: May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
Lay Reader: even as we put our hope in you.
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society
A beautiful way to end your prayer
A beautiful way to end your prayer:
“May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Amen. – Psalm 19:14
Are there any other Liturgical uses for this passage?
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society
Enter This Temple
On Wednesday night I got together with our keyboard player to rehearse Sunday’s music. One of the song’s we attempted was “Enter This Temple” by Leeland. While I attempted to sing through it, I was struck by how there were some notes that were way too low for me and others that were way too high. I mean really beyond my reach. Then it dawned on me that one guy sings this song on the original recording. We do plan to use this song during the Offering on Sunday but our keyboard player will have to sing certain parts that I can’t reach, then I’ll sing the other parts. This is what I call a humbling experience. When I got home after the practice, I looked up the song on Youtube and was struck by how young this kid is that has this range.
I chose this song because last Sunday we spent a bit of time on God’s presence. In Philippians chapter 4 we heard the line “the Lord is near.” It was powerful enough to carry into this week, so I felt compelled to sing about it again.
Here’s an explanation of the song:
And here’s the studio version with some nice graphics (and it sounds a lot better!):
